Now this could pose a problem…..a big pine tree down across our hiking trail.
We actually noticed before that this particular tree is *full* of acorn holes where the woodpeckers have made a huge storehouse of acorns in the trunk. We think this is what led to the demise of this big tree. That looks like a fresh acorn inside the hole.
When it fell, big pieces of the bark came off and exposed all the acorn holes. We climbed up and over to continue our hike. The dog decided to crawl underneath but either way it worked.
Further down the trail my son spotted this section of a wasp nest on the trail. These are amazing creations and hard to believe that an insect made this out of their spit and plant fibers. Once again the Handbook of Nature Study helped us to learn a little bit more about the process of building the nest on page 381 (Lesson 95). The whole section is fascinating…here is an excerpt:
“The nest is of paper made of bits of wood which the wasps pull off with their jaws from weather-worn fences or boards. This wood is reduced to pulp by saliva which is secreted from the wasp’s mouth, and is laid on in little layers which can be easily seen by examining the outside of the nest.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 381.
We also noticed these puffy growths on the oak branches along the trail. We thought maybe they were some sort of gall. I am still working on figuring out what exactly they are so if anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate an email.
It is nice to be out hiking again as the weather is cooling down a bit. My sons have been down off and on this week with a cold/flu. Mr. A said it was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and I know it always makes me feel better too.
Hi Barb, just wanted to drop a line of encouragement to you. We love your whole web site and everything you put into it. We have been following Sketch Tuesday even though we haven’t sent in our sketches for a while and are about to follow up on some HOC. We live in Australia so we do things a bit backwards here, you know seasons and all!! Take care and thankyou for all your work and generous nature. Blessings, Renelle
I’m with you. Often the very best nature studies literally fall across the paths we frequent the most! Loved this.
I agree with you on the cooler weather being nice. 🙂 Autumn & winter are my favorite seasons.
Also, glad your boys are feeling better & are able to get outside and enjoy nature again.
I’m fascinated by the acorn holes!
How lovely to find out a fallen tree is a whole micro-cosmos for so many animals.