Thursday, February 8, 2018

A Walk in the Woods

I finally did manage a walk in the woods here, a small patch of woodland far across the back of the golf course that I could see on the map.  It turned out to be small but really interesting, a bit of mature Beech-Hemlock forest here at the edge of town.

I actually found this woodlot back in the fall, when first exploring the back part of the golf course.  I followed other walker's tracks just through a corner of the woods, thinking this would be a good place to explore later.  This Yellow Birch marked where the trail went in.

But when I finally walked through it during our mid-January thaw, it was dark, with an overstory mostly of Hemlock.  That's unusual in southern Ontario, a bit of really old woods dominated by Hemlock.

And American Beech, like this huge old one.  Some literature suggests that Beech-Hemlock forest was the original forest of southern Ontario, but it's much more common to find woodlots dominated by Sugar Maple.

Some bigger old Yellow Birch in the woods too.  And notice all the Hemlock in the background.

Those Hemlock needles are easily recognizable against the snow.

Found a few other interesting bits too, like this big old rotting log decorated with bracket fungi.

And a very bright green bit of moss on a stump.

There's also quite a substantial stream flowing through the far side, and I found this spring feeding a small tributary draining down into the creek.

 A big old Sugar Maple on the edge of the bush.  A short but interesting walk, and a woodlot that turned out to be much more interesting than I expected.




15 comments:

  1. Good to hear you found a patch of woods close to home. It looks like it hasn't been disturbed in a long time.

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  2. The stream looks welcome this time of year! Beautiful shots.

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  3. Those wintery forest photos remind me of my cross-country ski days.

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  4. The trunks tell a story of their own.

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  5. So man has radically altered the landscape.

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  6. Wow. Beech and Hemlock are two of my favorite trees and perfect for photography.

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  7. Hello, what a lovely walk. The creek, fungi and trees are all beautiful. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and weekend ahead!

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  8. I love hemlock forests. Had a supervisor take issue with me once long ago- he said birch-hemlock ecosystems were not a thing. Right.

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  9. Not much snow there, very nice walk you had!

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  10. The cemetery is beautiful in the snow!
    Interesting photo of the fungi, too
    Have a wonderful day!

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  11. Beautiful old trees. I love the gnarly branches reaching for the sky. :-)

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  12. Nothing beats a walk in the woods...except a walk on the beach, maybe...if you're not in a cat 3

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  13. Neat old trees. I like the perspective of looking straight up.

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  14. What a grand place for a short walk or however long you want to be. Trees are so interesting---as you know a lot of Conifers out this way
    MB

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  15. What a beautiful woodland, and so close to home! Looks like a grand place to explore in every season.

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