"Walking in the woods" pictures: share yours

I am hoping this is the appropriate place to create a "walking in the woods" picture exchange forum.

Walking in the woods is one of my favorite things to do. I find it to be a source of great inspiration, perspiration, and relaxation. I would extend the Idea to anything related observing plants in a natural (minimally disturbed or engineered) environment and discussion centering around observations of photos, growing conditions, and so on. To big an idea? perhaps. But worth a shot.

I'll start.

Here is a large conifer stump which I'm fairly sure was a dougless fir. It's growing red huckleberry and evergreen huckleberry. With young (bracken type) ferns and some sort of brambley berry (salmon berry I think... I'll take better notes now that I've got a thread to report to)

agreed, walking in the woods and checking out plants and trees is one of my main ways to have fun.

i suppose its hard for some to understand, but i dont enjoy many things others do, and dont like to be in cities and towns,go to bars or shows or any of that stuff- i'd rather be wandering around the forest =)
or just sitting around doing nothing, watching sci fi, or of course- growing plants and trees =)

also walking in general is good for a person. something about the rhythm of walking, observing, its very relaxing and seems to get my head clear, especially if i have some things to think about...i can take some idea out for a walk....

i've been taking lots of pics lately of different plants and trees, some i am trying to identify.



theres so many nut trees around here! i think theres a couple of kinds of trees, they all look very similar. i think these are all in the walnut family..i have found a couple that i think are black walnuts, and one i think is a heart nut......i guess i will find out soon enough when i go gather some soon. =)






a huge old maple




another maple



acacia, i think, but not sure what kind? theres so many of these around everywhere, they spread a lot with those bean pods, some spots theres tons of these.

I know next to nothing about nut trees but I've been eyeballing a few around here just lately. Some have gone rather feral. Its all quite exciting really. I'll get some pictures of them.

Here's a couple more!

I think (it's just an idea) slugs may be one of the main transporters and vectors of the fungal kingdom. Here's a (insert genus and species here) slug truckin' through the forest floor ignoring some. Probability on his way to eat up some yummy oysters.

Also Nettles and Not Nettles

Anyone from the east coast? I'd like to see more maple

I enjoy walking around my property in search of the perfect campsite. On only 7 1/2 acres, I've found about 50.

Continued from last post. These are the six that happen to be on my phone.

Dale,

So I'm seeing big leaf maple, Several conifer types, salal, Oregon grape, and is that a little madrona I see peeking out from beyond that stump? Do you know what that stand of deciduous trees are? Are those conifers primarily doug firs? I'm trying get a few good pictures of the maple closes to me. It appears to be a 7 trunked monster out of one root system

You've got a good eye Landon --- Most of the conifers are Douglas fir and western red cedar. The stand of young trees are cottonwood and red alder. It was bare ground 13 years ago. The trees by the rock are D fir. --- The madrona hats grown up several times, only to be smashed by falling slabs from the big dead fir. That fir will continue rotting for 20 more years. Standing dead wood is great wildlife habitat.

I have a few nice big firs.
The rock piles are home to lizards and snakes.

Brilliant idea! Leila, I am with you, walking in the woods observing is one of my most delightful entertainments. I am a real geek, which is fine. I'm a happy geek because my farm abuts enough woods to keep me guessing.

Here's a few from my phone, next time I go out I will keep this thread in mind.These don't come close to capturing our woods.

Matu, thats awesome! Do you know what sort of trees those are? That tree in the center is totally dancing near your pool! Looks like quite the gathering.

I was mostly focusing on the forest floor today. I have a bunch of pictures. I'll try to let them out in dribbles and access interest.

First: Here is a patch of 4 different types of mosses growing on old dead fall. It's impossible to tell from the photo and hard to tell on the ground but this seems to be primarily on what is left of one downed tree Note the exposed bio char center right. Not really visible in the photo are two plus lichens and at least one fungus

Second: Totally moss covered dead fall with two mushrooms

Third: Baby golden chantrell springing forth from moss with red and evergreen huckleberry

Some tasty treats.

Picture 2: Two slugs making a bee line by salal to join a third at a feast . I can't see how these sticky guys could help but drag spores all over with them

Finally!

Salal berries are ripe! Best when just starting to ferment on the bush.

and contrast that to this section of land which is human managed to grow salal for profit. Lots of little lacy white bugs did this.

Awesome Red Huck grows out of stump near wetlands flanked by big leaf maple



100% edible 4 species polyculture found in wet brambly bottom with hole in canopy


Golden chantrel under sword fern w/ moss

Last one for now. More chantrel under more sword ferns in mixed conifers w/moss


EDIT: Oops I swaped my captions for the last two chantrel pics. and theres been an error with my 'bramble polyculutre' upload.

Its getting late. please do forgive me until I care enough to monkey around and fix it

OK... So trying to post here via my phone just doesn't work... The forum engine seems to conflict with Swype for some reason...

Anyways, my girlfriend and I went out to Colonial Creek Campground in the North Cascades National Park for my birthday and to meet someone new. We went a little bit camera crazy on the mushrooms there.

Take 3... I guess we are only allowed 3 pictures per post and at 37 pictures (not a whole lot really) I'd need to make 13 posts to show off these mushrooms and trees. Here is a link to my Google Drive folder with the pictures. I think that is overall less of a pain in the ass for people. http://goo.gl/uvy93D

Landon: This is where Colonial Creek Campground is in relation to us.

North of Bellingham, WA. Been chopping n dropping lately.

Alder scrub? Looks nice. Are you going to purposefully introduce oysters or just let the locals take over (the turkey tail always seems to get there first on downed logs - while oyster seems to prefer snags and trees with some ground clearance in my experience.) Are you clearing little meadows or just doing a general thinning?

Yes , mostly alder and cottonwoods and scattered birch and evergreens. Mushrooms are all unwanted polypore conks. Greenery is salal. Lots of salal. Acres of salal. Maybe I should profit from it? What do? Attached is mushroom pic. My wife's hand not as bad as it looks. Got pricked by blackberry and then rain made wound run.

The only way to profit from salal that I am aware of is to sell it to florists. I've done a bit of this - its not work I really enjoy and I don't feel like its sustainable in the long term (see pictures above - this is pretty typically in areas which are regularly harvested - it puts stress on the plants) I see those mushrooms all over the place in the foothills of the eastern peninsula - but I'm not sure what they are. Congrats on the alder forest - Alder forest is more or less my dream land to work with. Enjoy and try to avoid the war wounds!

I didn't know if somebody was making salal jelly or something. Why is alder forest your ideal? Added pic of one of our Japanese plums for no good reason. Taken today.

A few pictures from my wood walks

Richard - you posted this.



I'm intrigued. They have the ear-markings of the European hare that I'm used to seeing, but they look a bit different, too. Also, it's very rare to get European hares together like that after the first 24 hours. So what are they? And where was this taken?

This are European hare (Lepus europaeus) youngsters, their mother has brought them almost to my fence and they have been hiding under the pine tree while she was feeding on my newly planted trees . The picure was taken in Poland, in Bolimowska Forest, 70 km west from Warsaw. The mother hare is not afraid of me at all, she use to allow me to come at 3-4 steps distance from her (after a few encounters of course). Here is another one where she breastfeeds her youngsters. Picture taken just after dark.

The nice thing about having a forest farm is that you're stacking functions. My woods walk is my farm walk!

You requested a maple pic so here:


This pic is a triple wammy as far as I'm concerned.
1. Oh, look at the cute calf.
2. Look at those maples on fire!
3. Mmmm, meat.

Our land up in Salisbury, NY, just south of the Adirondack Park. I hope in my lifetime I can finish the in-town-must-finish list to let this feed my first on-contour, Holzer pond!

Some scenes of Wyoming. I have tons of photos so it is hard to choose.

A few more.

I edited two pictures out cuz I got carried away and posted pictures that were not in the woods!

Well Poland looks spectacularly beautiful. And Wyoming - wow a land a stark contrast for sure. Is that a flock of Wild Turkeys there in New York Thomas? I wouldn't know a wild turkey if it bit me - which it probably would.

Charles, the reason I like alder forest so much is simply because I'm familiar with them. I grew up in them. They more or less make sense to me. I'm familiar with much of the ecology that goes along with them. The grow quick, rot quicker, fix nitrogen, and host all manor of awesome fungi. Clearing out meadows and sun alleys for forest cropping seems like a natural thing to do to me. If I was given 100 hectares of prime valley farm land, I'd just end up planting nettles anyway. It's what feels like 'home' to me. I can remember being in Italy in summer of 03 and the rampant grass and brush fires - everything golden and brown. Then moving through an Alien rocky green North until arriving in the Aldery slopes of the Alps near Salzburg. It was such a relief - it felt like home.

Salal preserves sound really good. I've heard talk of but never had any. I am a bit skeptical about the energy in/ energy out of making a marketable profitable product - but I have been wrong more times than I can count by a good bit. Worst case you end up with some tasty preserves for yourself in winter and a healthy appreciation of how much time wildcrafting on a mass scale can take.

Hey Landen,
Yes, wild turkeys on parade.

Pic #2 is the Piseco Lake outflow 20 miles north of Salisbury. Only one cottage at the far end, wonderfully remote for being so close to villages.

Your talk of hot climate fires in Italy bears a striking resemblence to passages in Jean Pain's book about his region of France on the Mediterranean.

From Monday's walk in our hunting park.

Tracking wild boar :



Water from one pond going down to another :



A dead tree relives thanks to the Ivy :

I LOVE THIS THREAD!

From last week - Sorry there's some blur factor!

The spring fed brook that feeds the Cedar Swamp. It literally just pops out of the ground right here.


Some of the cedars in the foreground and my Dad in the distance.


These next 3 are all near the South Eastern corner of the property.

This is taken right on the edge of a cliff that drops more or less 300' to the dirt road and river/lake/wetland below. Facing North East-ish. See the tiny road?



This is further back from the edge, facing more directly East-ish. You can see Spruce at centre, Sugar Maple to the left, Oak to the right and more spruce, river valley below.
This is my favourite spot to camp.


This last one is further back again probably 150' from the edge of the cliff/ previous photo and facing I'd say South South West. That dark spot in the distance is a brow of bedrock protruding from the ground. If you follow the depression you can see in the photo veins of rock will rise on your left and right and open up while facing pretty much due south. The combination of the exposed rock and southern slope seemed to make for a warm micro-climate. It was the only place we saw on the whole property that day (First week of Feb!) where all, or really any, of the snow had melted away. Wish I'd got a picture further down!

You can see yellow birch, beech, and maple with little firs and spruce.

love this thread, i feel like i just toured the worlds coolest forests =)

its raining/snowing here so havent been out much. heres some pics from last fall


some hops on an abandoned barn.... gone feral

with some of those bean pod trees behind them, i still havent figured out what they are, but they are really common here

the hops again



some more big leaf maples, these are everywhere here, wish i had actually gotten around to experiment with tapping them!



hugey pinecone
i see these around a lot too



the deer here arent shy



wild california mugwort, another common thing here


these pom pom like pines sort of seem dr suess ish =)

Here's a sample photo from a thread I made last year - Some of My Favourite Trees

leila hamaya wrote:...some more big leaf maples, these are everywhere here, wish i had actually gotten around to experiment with tapping them!

Probably not worth tapping for several reasons. If they aren't sugar maples, the sugar content is too low to bother with. You can only tap when the sap is rising in the spring when the temps are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Just a week or two away, here in Vermont.

Melting snow.

A few more.

Cj Verde wrote:

leila hamaya wrote:...some more big leaf maples, these are everywhere here, wish i had actually gotten around to experiment with tapping them!

Probably not worth tapping for several reasons. If they aren't sugar maples, the sugar content is too low to bother with. You can only tap when the sap is rising in the spring when the temps are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Just a week or two away, here in Vermont.

yeah it could be tricky, but i have read of some people doing this out here with the big leaf maple.
it would be more experimental than trying to get a ton of it, well thats if and when i actually try

A post Valentine's day bumble around the place...

We've been clearing pine trees from here to give the old cork oaks a bit more light and air. It was a bit late for this one though...



This is one of the branches that fell off the dead cork oak. It has a bad case of purple fungus! I love purple...





He's found more fungus.