November Nature Walk: Highlights of the Forest

In the previous nature trail blog, I focused

on the school children's experience.  Here,

I'd like to share a few closeups of highlights

of our fall walk.

Here are the star-shaped leaves of the sweetgum.

It is often known by the seed-bearing "stickerballs."

The next two shots show the array of

colors of the abundant red maples.

This shot highlights the bumpy texture of

Old Man Poplar's trunk.  How much longer

can it stand?

We also have sugar maples on the trail.

I love this vibrant gold.

The single green leaves among the dried

brown leaves are Cranefly Orchid, one of

the most unusual plants on the trail.  The

underside of the leaves is purple.  These

plants emerge in the fall and die down in

the spring, just the opposite of most plants.

In the previous blog, I showed students

viewing this moss-covered trunk which

spans the creek banks.  Here's a better

view.  I wouldn't walk on it; it's been

decaying here for two decades.  On the

other hand, I don't know how long it

could remain.  But please don't test it!

Here are the dying fronds (leaves) of the

Royal Fern, one of our less common species.

Even though there was a pool of water at

Big Rock and some other spots, there was

no water under the bridge.

There were still many samples of heart-

shaped wild ginger once we crossed the

bridge (leading off of school property).

Each student received a tiny piece of the

aromatic leaves to carry along.

The still-green fronds of the Christmas

fern demonstrate the diversity of the

fern family.  Old fronds will die down,

but many will remain green all winter long.

Sunlight filters through these magnolia

leaves.  This is another sort of evergreen.

We noted this tree had been struck by

lightning at some point in its life.  There

are many examples of natural  damage

throughout the woods.

These cinnamon ferns lend their colors

to the changing landscape.

Strong winds and shallow roots are a

combination that occasionally result in

uprooted trees.  Its fun to see the changes

on the trail from one visit to the next.

Here's a closeup of the spiny vines of

Smilax (scientific name), also known as

cat-brier and wait-a-minute vine.  It can

deliver painful scratches.

This picture was taken from atop Big

Rock, looking down into the stream bed.

Don't you wish you could walk this

trail today?  Why don't you?

As I drove away from school that day

I stopped on McCaskill Road and took

this panoramic shot of the nature trail's

canopy.  I can't wait for my next visit.

If you're on Facebook, I invite you to

visit the Friends of the Sandhills Farm

Life Nature Trail page.  All my nature

trail photos from over the years are

posted in albums there.