A report in The New York Times yesterday showed places inKiev that have been bombed by the Russians.
A new type of “trash” that has been building up over the past two years. It is a rare day that we do not see a face mask on a walk.
We spent a wonderful sunny and warm morning at Nan Weston Preserve west of Ann Arbor. I believe that this is a slime mold starting our walk in the woods.
Not was was leafing out yet. Carya cordiformis, one of the hickories is a favorite bud of mine. The yellow bud of this hickory makes it easily identifiable. Fraxinus quadrangulata, the blue ash is another tree that I like seeing. It is not very common in Michigan, but is easily identified by the “squared” stems.
The wet woods at Nan Weston have a lot of young American beech trees. The pointy buds are easily identified, and most of the small trees hold their leaves through the winter.
Another common small tree/shrub at Nan Weston is leather-leaf (Dirca palustris). Again the buds and leaf scars make this small shrubby tree easily to identify all year.
Late in our walk we found an American beech that had a bunch of black fungus which is Black sooty mold. This is found only on American beech.
Finally, late in our walk, along the Raisin River there was a lot of evidence of beaver taking down tree4s.
Michael's Place 