This time of year our Sweet Gum tree has lost all its leaves and is totally bare except for a few of the sticker balls hanging here and there.
Here are the tree’s trunk and branches.
My son used the Seasonal Tree Study page to record his observations and his sketch. He looked carefully at and drew the buds on his journal page.
Here is our tree last summer with all its leaves.
We followed the suggestion in the Handbook of Nature Study on page 624 and we took a twig with buds, put it into a vase with water, and then placed it in a warm, light place to see what happens.
I added in some forsythia branches as well to see if they will bloom inside this year.
We really enjoyed watching this tree all year long. We are thinking about choosing a different tree to watch this year.
We had another chance to take a walk up in the high country yesterday. The boys were snowboarding but we preferred to take a slower approach to our day. We took two hours to tramp around in the woods and see what we could find.
Here was something we found interesting. It looks as if an animal scratched the bark off this Jeffrey pine to get at something underneath…insects? If you look closely you can see the chunk of bark sticking out from under the snow.
Here is a close-up.
Lots of prints in the snow…..dogs and otherwise. We aren’t sure about these. They seem too close together to be a dog and there are no marks for the claws like dogs have.
We think these are squirrel tracks.
Some squirrels had a feast on this stump that we came across as we crunched through the snow. I have come to appreciate that there are animals that depend on this food source in the middle of winter. As we stopped at one point along our walk, a huge cone came crashing down just a few feet from us. As you look around the forest floor, you see cones just about everywhere in various stages of being eaten.
Somehow we lost the trail as we wandered around looking at various interesting things. Yes, that is my hubby looking for a way back to the trail. He assured me he knew which way to go. 🙂
If you have to be lost, can you imagine a more peaceful place? It was quiet and sunny and warm and we knew generally that we needed to head towards that mountain to get back to the main trail.
We eventually found our way back and it was a really good thing because I was getting tired and hungry. We saw so many other things but I will share those in another post.
We have been watching and observing all the different shapes of tree silhouettes we have in our neighborhood. We are all pointing out different shapes and patterns and I can honestly say we are loving our winter trees.
This morning we were looking out and noticed that our trees were filled with American Robins. I counted sixteen of them at one time in the trees along the side of our house.
The sunrise was just so pink and pretty and then the birds with their dark silhouettes….I couldn’t resist trying to get a photo or two or three. If you click to enlarge and look closely, you will see several bird sitting on branches.
All of the photos above were taken within minutes of each other and you can see the sky and the light changed so fast.
Here is my son’s tree silhouette of the walnut tree in our backyard.
I always think of his sketching as sort of gesture drawing. He has such a unique style all to himself.
The shapes of trees have inspired me of late to try some brush painting…don’t they just look like they should be sketched with black ink on blue paper? This particular tree is a very large oak along a new to me trail that we tried out yesterday. It is on the opposite side of the river canyon from “our” trail that we take pretty much every afternoon. This side is the sunny side of the canyon and it has a totally different feel and look about it.
This is some sort of pine and we decided we would call it the “V Tree” since it has the very distinct V in the trunk at the top. Yes, once again we got a late start and the sun was beginning to set on us. It is such a great time to be out in the woods.
This is a rather steep trail from the canyon rim down to the American River. This view is right at the top as you start descending and you can see the river’s bend at Chili Bar. There is a quarry in the background…ugly huh? But the river here at the bridge is the start for river rafting trips that descend down the river and end at Salmon Falls or Folsom Lake. As the crow flies, this is about a mile from my front door….I live on the ridge on the opposite side from where I am standing. We forgot our GPS or I would tell you exactly how far it is.
Here is a little flat section of the way down where we stopped to enjoy the view. The trail has burst out in lots of green. This particular hike my husband does a couple times a week with a co-worker on his way to his day’s work. He does it in full uniform with his heavy boots on for his morning workout. It is a tough climb out of the canyon.
Holes are all up and down the slopes and I am pretty sure they must be gophers. If you venture off the path at all, you sink down in all the holes. Kona had to stick her nose down every hole she could find so she was very busy and had a very dirty nose when we finished.
Here is the only blooming flower we saw along the trail and there was only one flower blooming…the first of the season’s buttercups. I spotted it right away and had to scurry off the trail to get a photo.
Here is the view when you get to the bottom of the canyon. Someday I would like to bring a picnic and my sketchbook and spend some time drinking in all this beauty, maybe meditate a bit on the gifts of the Creator has given us. I imagine in the summertime you do not have this clear of a view of the river once all the trees push out their leaves. We could finish the last little bit down the slope and put our toes in the water if we were hot….a welcome relief in the summertime my husband informs me. He promises to hike down here again with me in the near future when the wildflowers are blooming and the newts are out.
I will post our official tree silhouette entry later in the week.
Outdoor Challenge #47
Seasonal Tree Observation-Winter
1. We are now completing our full circle study of a tree in our yard. If you completed challenges 11, 20, and 36, you will now be observing your tree in its fourth season. This week you will use the suggestions on pages 624-625 of the Handbook of Nature Study to make general winter observations of your tree. You can record your thoughts either in your nature journal or on the Seasonal Tree Study page provided below.
2. Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to study your tree. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can watch through all four seasons. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests taking a twig from your tree and looking at the tree’s buds carefully. See page 624 #3 for more details.
3. After your outdoor time, complete your Seasonal Tree Study notebook page or record your tree observations in your nature journal. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests sketching your tree to show its shape as it stands bare. Take a few minutes to talk about your time outdoors to see if there is anything that your child wants to learn more about. Follow up any interest shown.
You can purchase all of the first ten challenges in a convenient ebook along with custom notebook pages.
I know that large parts of the United States are under frozen temps and lots of ice so I almost feel guilty posting my photos from our hike yesterday. It was very sunny but the wind was brisk and we took advantage of the afternoon to look into a wetland that is about an hour from our home. This wildlife area is home to lots of migratory birds and is on the Pacific Flyway.
There were many kinds of ducks and geese but some other more exciting birds as well. We watched a pair of hawks soaring and diving for a long time and then we came across this beauty of a bird….a Great Egret.
We observed many Great Egrets. This particular bird was posing for the longest time for us and we got a very good look at his beautiful fluffy feathers. (Go ahead, click the photo to get a better look.)
I tried to get a photo of one in flight and this was the best I could do, if you click the photo you will see it much better. They dangle their feet out behind them as they fly and their wings have a wingspan of about 50 inches.
We also enjoyed the wildflowers that were in bloom…..mostly mustard and this white flower that I am not sure about.
My son spotted these huge mushrooms along the road.
It was nice to get out into the sunshine and explore a new area. We were on the lookout for signs of mammals but we didn’t see any this time.
1. Read chapter four in Discover Nature in Winter. Even though the title of this chapter tells us that it is about birch trees, after you read the actual material you realize that it covers so much more in its pages. I do not live where birch trees are native but this chapter gave me lots of ways to observe any tree that I come across. Pay special attention to the sections on branch patterns, twig parts, seed containers, and tree silhouettes. This chapter alone could give you plenty of ideas for a complete season of winter nature study.
2. We are going to complete two of this chapter’s activities:
Tree silhouettes on page 77
Seed containers on page 81
For those families that do not have the book to work from, here are some ideas for you to try with your family.
1. Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and view its branch patterns and silhouette.
2. Find a tree that has lost its leaves and sketch its shape in your nature journal. This activity can be done from a window if your weather is too cold or snowy.
3. Collect some seeds from trees that may still be left over from last season. Look for sweet gum, locust, yellow poplar, ash, mimosa, or sycamore.
4. Collect twigs from different trees and compare them.
I have been wanting to share a photo of the deer that live in our neighborhood. They are so graceful and beautiful and I never get tired of seeing them graze and rest in the grass and under the trees.
We saw this herd of deer in someone’s front yard yesterday as we drove down to our hiking spot. (click photo to see all the deer in the photo…I think we spotted eight) Typically, we see this group of deer in this same area every afternoon. They come up to graze under the trees and they are actually not very afraid of people. This group is mostly made up of mamas and young ones. On the way back from our hike I did spot a buck sitting near this spot so I am assuming that he belongs to this crowd.
The road is very close to where I am standing and they didn’t seem to mind that I was there taking photos.
I was surprised that deer are not discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study. We used the internet to complete a notebook page on mule deer. (we also used this page)
Over on my art blog I shared a short video last month on how to use watercolor crayons to draw and then paint a leaf in my nature journal. I had lots of readers email ask if I could make a video showing a start to finish watercolor crayon leaf so they would feel more confident to give it a try.
It took a little time to get this video pulled together and I had to do a little editing to get it to work on YouTube but here you go.
I am using watercolor crayons in my regular sketch journal. (click over to the blog to watch the video)
Hope this helps some of you out with getting starting with watercolor crayons.
Since we do not have groundhogs, prairie dogs, or marmots in our area, we just enjoyed reading the information from the Handbook of Nature Study, the Burgess Animal Book, and watching the videos.
After that we needed to take our outdoor time.
We didn’t feel much like going for a walk but once we were on the trail….it was refreshing and it felt good to stretch our legs. The fog was drifting in and out of the trees as we walked and there was a squirrel chattering at us from high up in the trees.
The boys remembered that we had seen a prairie dog at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum and I pulled up the photos to remind us a little more.
Wow, I totally forgot that we saw prairie dogs when we were in Arizona. (We saw so many interesting things at this museum that it isn’t any wonder that I forgot.)
I thought the prairie dog was posing for us because he looked right at us as I snapped the photo. He was rather cute for a rodent. Click on the photo and then tell me….is he posing or not? That is his hole right there between us and it was really big.
Okay, back to our walk.
On our foggy day walk, we started to notice more and more muddy trails off the main trail. We are assuming these are made by animals since this area does not get many visitors this time of year….or any time of the year for that matter. This particular trail heads down into another gully and I can hear in the distance the faint sound of water so I think there must be a creek. One of these days I will convince someone to go exploring with me down one of these trails. The photo looks crooked but it really is a very steep little gully and I imagine in the spring this will not be as noticeable as the trees put back on their leaves.
After completing a little more research, we found that there are marmots in the Sierras and in Yosemite National Park. I have never seen one there but now you know that it will be a goal to see one. 🙂
This was a great challenge for us and we learned a lot about these mammals. This challenge also encouraged us to get out on a day that we would have probably not ventured out as a family and that is the best part of the whole thing.
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