trees, shrubs, and woody plants

[lizziebelle]

I went on a nature hike today down at the wildlife sanctuary at Stanley Park, and I've forgotten who sponsored it, but I read about it in our paper. The leader of the walk is a teacher at Westfield State (one of his students went with us), and it was fun. He has a good sense of humor. There was quite a mix of people present (about 15 in all), ranging in age from 'teens to 70s at least. We didn't do a lot of walking, but we learned a lot about trees (and shrubs, and woody plants). I learned how to identify hickory, birch, chestnut, dogwood, sassafras, witch hazel, and ironwood. I learned how to tell the difference between red & sugar maple, and red, white, and black oak. I had a daddy long legs try to hitch a ride, and I tried to take its picture but it came out fuzzy. The weather was perfect: sunny with puffy clouds, and in the sixties. A really nice afternoon!

Comments

[sea-dark-wine.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a great time! Tree identification is one of those things I'd like to be better with, too.

Did I tell you we went to a class at our local Audubon sanctuary last week? It was about identifying hawks and other similar raptors. I guess this is migration season for many of them. We learned a bunch of ways to tell certain of them apart (I'm really good at the turkey vulture now) but who knows if we'll remember until the next time we see any! Some of the people there seemed like rather hard-core bird watchers and a bit obsessed... but I shouldn't really talk -- I'll sit and watch a chipmunk for a very long time if I feel like it. One of the things the instructor said was that eagles screaming is actually a myth, and that a red-tailed hawk is actually dubbed in if you hear an "eagle" on TV or in movies. I'm still not sure I believe that!

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Well, I've heard a hawk before, so I would believe it.

And yeah, birders do tend to be an obsessive bunch. ;)

Nature Walk

[ami-1.livejournal.com]

What a lovely idea!