wordless Wednesday

tree year project 2011, #11

monarch butterfly resting on coast Douglas-fir
Danaus plexippus on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

In the past week, I've seen more monarchs flying around town on the sunnier days. One was kind enough to rest on the Douglas-fir tree that I'm featuring for The Tree Year project. And, no, those orange-brown blobs in the second picture aren't monarchs; they're cones. I wanted to also show how brown the cones have gotten. Actually they started turning from green to brown back in August, but I'm just now getting a picture of it.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/insects/

tree year project 2011, #9

coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

I can't believe how quickly The Tree Year project is going. It feels like just yesterday when I posted the first appearance of spring green on this tree. The first picture above shows the developing female seed cone. Almost all the new cones have sap dripping from them. I wonder why this happens. The second picture is of last year's cone. I vaguely remember reading something about how Douglas-fir is unusual in that it holds onto old cones, but I can't find that reference now. And while I've also read that seed production is irregular, the numerous cones shown in the last picture seems average for this tree.

While writing this post and looking at past tree year project entries, I realized I mistook new female cones as new shoots and failed seed cones as dried new shoots. I'll have to go back and add postscripts to those posts. I'm always noticing and learning something new.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/about-the-tree/buds-and-flowers/

ps 08/08/11 - I just noticed the new seed cones are already brown. I haven't been paying attention in the past month. I'll try to get pictures soon.

tree year project 2011, #7

coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

While I was down in the park obtaining clippings for the caterpillars I'm raising, I took a closer look at the Douglas-fir I'm featuring in the Tree Year Project. Lo and behold there's a metal tag nailed to the base of the trunk with the number "1444" engraved on it. I looked at our local Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History site and their herbarium is included in the Consortium of California Herbaria. I searched under "1444", "Yadon", and "Monterey County, Pseudotsuga." No luck in finding any records. I suspect, since this is a city park, past forestry personnel did some kind of cataloging. With budget cuts, small town politics, and a citizen committee instead of an official arborist, I'm atypically hesitant to inquire about this tree and its tag. I'm including the silhouette pic to show off the shape of this tree.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/around-the-tree/human-marks/

tree year project 2011, #5

coast Douglas-fir with pride of Madeira
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii with Echium candicans
Pinaceae and Boraginaceae

Those first green sprouts that appeared the last week of January and first of February dried up into sadly drooping tails of brown. My only guess is that our long month and a half without the usual winter rain and sunny warm temps affected the annual growth of this tree (nope, incorrect guess, see postscript below). No worries, it looks like this old Douglas-fir is sporting a second set of green shoots after the appearance of baby cones and additional rains. For those new to Nature ID, I've committed a small part of my blog to participating in The Tree Year project.

I was really pleased to get a decent picture of the gnarly tree trunk and the purple blooms of the prolific pride of Madeira in its shadow. Actually, I had the camera out with hopes to capture what I believe is a migrant Rufous hummingbird. No luck since it's such an extremely quick flying bright red bird. It does a country line dance move with a head lean and fly to side to side that I swear the sole purpose is to taunt me into trying to take its picture.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/about-the-tree/buds-and-flowers/

ps 08/08/11 - I just noticed the lighter brown structures hanging down are dried pollen cones. I'm also guessing the droopy brown tails are unfertilized female cones. And the bright green are indeed new needle shoots; they look very similar to budding female cones. It always helps to take another look at these older posts.

tree year project 2011, #3

coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

So, it looks like those little green bits from my last post for The Tree Year project are indeed new needles (nope, see postscript below). Today was the first time this year I noticed miniature cones starting to pop down from the branches. The second pic is to show what a great view this Douglas-fir enjoys of the Monterey Bay with decorative sailboats on sunny days. I guess I should mention those upward looking branches in the background on the right are a set of 6 different Monterey pines that have grown, I swear, at least 15 feet in the past 5 years. Our once expansive view of the bay is quickly being overgrown with views of trees.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/about-the-tree/buds-and-flowers/

ps 08/08/11 - Correction! Now, I think the light green fluffy bits are female cones and the downward yellowish buds are male pollen cones. Apologies if this is confusing, but I'd like to keep what I originally wrote to show my learning in progress.

tree year project 2011, #2

coast Douglas-fir
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

The first sprouts of spring green on the Douglas-fir began appearing in the past week, nestled next to old pine cones and last year's growth. We've had an unusually warm January with little rain, but I don't think the weather has impacted the annual progression of this tree.

I'm wondering if the bright green bits are new shoots, new cones, or... I don't know what. I readily admit I know very little about trees and haven't been too eager to learn about them or post to Nature ID. As partial explanation of this brain freeze: for an assignment to key trees on campus, I received my only fail-grade... ever.... I've been harboring a resentment around trees ever since.

If it weren't for the trademark mouse-tail cones, I would never guess the ID of this tree since it's been pruned over many, many years into something that resembles more of a cypress shape than a standard Christmas tree. I'm starting to wonder if this individual tree is a cultivated garden variety due to its relatively short stature and unusual shape.

I have much to learn about this tree in the coming year, and I'm documenting this for The Tree Year project. As is the case of my typical tree ID thingahoo, this is my first post of this old and gnarly pine by itself without pretty birds, deer, odonate or other accoutrements (I suggest simply looking at the pictures from my old posts).

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/about-the-tree/buds-and-flowers/

ps 08/08/11 - I now believe those buds are female cones.

my first tree year project post

western scrub-jay perched on coast Douglas-fir
Aphelocoma californica perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

I don't often join in blogging groups and group nature activities. Sheesh, keeping up with Nature ID is already enough of a time-consuming hobby for me. However, I immediately liked the The Tree Year project idea: pick a tree, observe it and everything on or around it as often as you can, then share your observations.

I've already been observing this coast Douglas-fir for the past few years, which is located right next to our 3rd story balcony. Click to see all my past posts that include mentions or pictures of this tree. While I plan to write more later, I had a good laugh looking back to when I began this blog - back then, I wasn't sure which kind of jay came to visit me for peanuts or what kind of gnarly tree was growing within a few feet from home.

Similarly, I'm curious to watch how this The Tree Year develops.

Much to my own mixed dismay and delight, I've been hand feeding peanuts to our local western scrub-jays. The particular individual pictured above has continued to visit me through the fall and winter. It often hides the peanuts in the odd looking tailed pine cones of the Douglas-fir. I've wondered whether it knows how to find its stash, but I've since read western scrubs have a very good memory. Last summer I was feeding 4 different jays. They all looked very similar, but each had their own personality and behavior. I wonder what happened to the other 3 jays.

http://thetreeyear.wordpress.com/tree-year-posts/life-on-the-tree/birds/