The Beginning

I went out on January 1st for my first short walk of the New Year. I always have my phone/camera with me to record whatever interests me along the way. Today I will share my pictures in the order that I took them and show you what a typical walk might look like, what caught my attention, and share a few of my thoughts. I hope this will inspire you to get curious. 

In my neighborhood, there is a tiny park with a half-mile path that circles it. I headed there. Not a quarter of the way around I saw this short tree. What a weird shape, it always grabs my attention, and what are those round things on some of the branches? I imagined they might be galls of some kind - their roundness really stood out on the bare, thin branches.

Upon closer inspection, they were cones. Look at the red - is that sap? I didn't touch it but only because I didn't notice it in person. I saw it in the zoomed in photo. They were maybe walnut-sized.  

Halfway around the path and along the edges of the neighboring field were these leftover flowers all gone to seed. The fluffy white ends were so soft but still packed in tight enough to have not blown away yet. (I don't recommend touching everything until you learn to identify any dangerous plants in your area.) Leaning in to take this picture, a thorn bush grabbed my jacket in several places. Bare doesn't mean defenseless!

I'm not sure if this picture does it justice but here I'm noticing 1) the different colors of the trees, and 2) their different shapes. Winter is a great time to notice that trees are not all one shape. The silhouette is one way to identify trees. Did you know that? 

Ooh, berries! I bet the winter birds love to stop by this house. How many types of berries and winter food can be found near you? 

I noticed these white things on the bare branches - do you see them? Upon closer inspection, it was bird droppings. Ha! But, this confirmed my thoughts about the berries. These 2 pictures were taken feet apart. 

Our neighborhood is lined with different trees but they all have this in common. There are nests in nearly every other tree along these roads. Again, another thing to notice when trees are bare. Count the nests. See how many are in each tree. Are they built in sturdy places or just glued in place on seemingly precarious locations? Are they tidy? Messy? Small? Large? Do not collect them. The laws regarding bird nests and even feathers vary by state. Admire them. Look at them. Photograph them. But leave them to nature. 

Again with the tree shapes. Because people plant a variety of trees in their yards that may or may not be native and don't represent the natural wooded areas near you, you may see a great variety of shapes. 

This nest was larger and closer to the ground. I love holding my camera up to get a picture of what's in there in the spring. I've often found eggs or baby birds. In the winter I admire the architecture. 

And as long as we're looking at trees, have you noticed the bark? Have you noticed the colors? The patterns? How about the number of other things living on the trees? I can't resist touching bark or the moss, fungus, and lichens living on it. It's a sensory experience for sure.  

Another beautiful tree. Look at the gnarly branches. Everything is crooked in every which way. Not so with all of the other trees. Another clue to what type of tree this might be. 

And if you look up high, you might see a drey. A drey is one type of squirrel's nest that usually looks like a large clump of leaves got stuck in a tree. Our neighborhood is only about 25 years old. For the first several years we had none of these. It's good to see them more frequently now. 

When I arrived back home I stopped at the tree in my own front yard. Your nature walk could've only gone this far and still been worthwhile. I took 4 pictures of this tree at the same height while circling it. Look at the color variation. The mosses. The lichens. The textures. Grab a magnifying glass and see what else you might see. I got into macro photography because of things like this. The closer you look, the more beautiful it is. Zoom in. There is a whole world living right there on this one tree. 

And THIS! I had to touch it. It's as soft as it looks. Grab a tiny piece of that moss and put it under a microscope if you have one. Last year I read the book _Gathering Moss _ by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It's a bit technical, but her love of the subject brings such life to an often-overlooked topic. I was certainly inspired to look closer. 

I hope you've enjoyed this first look around 2023. I hope it's inspired you to look a little closer at the world around you. 

Nature study is really about building your observation skills, the foundation of all science and all great scientists.