This western juniper looks like it had too much fun on Earth Day. I think it was trying to sleep it off. 😉
Had too much fun on Earth Day
Trees
The Meadow – A peaceful retreat: LAPC
For more than 25 years our family camped in a place we called “The Meadow” in northeastern Washington state. Though this site didn’t have luxuries like running water or restrooms, it was a peaceful retreat.
The first three pictures show different views of The Meadow. Stands of aspen and mixed conifers border the large grass meadow. This site is at an elevation of around 4,500 feet and hosts a wide variety of wildlife including three kinds of grouse, moose, deer, bear, cougar, and probably wolves. I had a memorable experience one day when a great gray owl drifted over me on its whisper quiet wings.
The next three photos show a couple of our pets from the past and a pest. Can you see the chipmunk silhouetted on the pine tree trunk? The chipmunks and camp robber birds would steal food right off your plate if you weren’t watching. In another picture you can see our dog, Keyah, walking in front of a place we called “Big Rock.” The kids loved climbing on top of this massive boulder. The other picture shows our dog, Leto, resting in front of the campfire. This boulder was a perfect backdrop for our fires.
The next three photos show a few of the treasures we found near our camp. The lichen looked as though someone sprayed it with fluorescent green paint. The dew-covered mushroom looked like a strange, rounded blob on the forest floor. But the best thing I ever found was a shed deer antler. After camping there for so many years and searching for antlers, I found this one right next to our campsite. The antler was found on our very last trip to The Meadow and it’s something I will always treasure.
It’s a Boy! Pine tree: Thursday Tree Love
I saw this “it’s a boy” pine tree along the trail to Big Tree, the largest ponderosa pine of its kind, in LaPine State Park, Oregon. I may have walked right past this odd tree, but I noticed two teenage boys laughing loudly and pointing at it. They took multiple pictures to share with their friends. Their reaction to it was almost as funny as the tree itself! 😀
Seeing red near Mt Jefferson: Wordless Wednesday
Turning into Fall: Wordless Wednesday
A larch in waiting up close: Macro Monday
This larch in waiting photo shows one of their tiny cones up close. The western larch needles turn gold in the fall before dropping. The pompom needle clusters in this photo were just beginning to turn. This unique tree is one of my local favorites.
Macro Monday
Bonsai trees – Living works of art: Thursday Tree Love
These bonsai trees in the Portland Japanese Garden were living works of art. We visited the garden in mid-October, when the colors of autumn were beginning to put on their show.
The first tree is a Japanese maple and it’s 35 years old. This variety’s foliage changes from green to shades of golden-yellow and red. This maple’s reddish bark intensifies in color over the winter months.
The second tree is a vine maple and it’s 75 years old. This type of maple is common in Pacific Northwest forests. Those growing in shade tend to have yellow fall color, while those in direct sunlight are more likely to turn orange and scarlet.
The third tree is a trident maple and it’s 30 years old. This maple is native to China, Korea, and Japan. It gets its name from its three-lobed leaves.
The fourth photo shows a miniature forest of Japanese maples and it’s 35 years old. These trees already dropped their leaves for the season.
The sixth photo shows a Japanese beech that’s 30 years old. This species only grows in parts of Japan – it is an endemic species. Its copper-colored leaves stood out from the rest of the bonsai trees.
The seventh photo shows a winterberry and it is 45 years old. Winterberry are endemic to a province in China. Their distinctive red berries let you know they’re related to holly.
The eighth picture shows a dwarf Asian pear and it’s 25 years old. This pear is native to China and Vietnam. This was one of my favorites because I admired its twisting branches.
Thursday Tree Love
Streets lined with gold: Thursday Tree Love
These streets lined with gold are along the highway east of Mount Hood in Oregon. I was there a week ago and the colors were spectacular!
The golden leaves along this road are mostly on aspen and larch trees. Larch is a deciduous conifer. Yes, most conifers keep their leaves through the winter–not the larch. See my post Western larch – A beauty in gold for more about these trees.
We also saw pops of red from the vine maples growing along this route.
The last picture shows bigleaf maples growing near the Columbia River. It was wonderful to see streets lined with gold in several locations on this trip in northern Oregon.
Rooted in the past: Thursday Tree Love
These western juniper trees near the shore of Prineville Reservoir were rooted in the past. After many years of fluctuating water levels, their roots became exposed. The red volcanic soil here stands out in strong contrast with the deep blue sky and green foliage.
Big Tree – Biggest Ponderosa Pine: TTL
This gigantic pine is Big Tree, AKA Big Red, the biggest Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa, ever recorded. It’s located in LaPine State Park, north of La Pine, Oregon. Though it lost 30 feet of its crown during severe storms, it is still the largest Ponderosa pine in circumference.
Here are some facts about this tree:
- Circumference: 28 feet 11 inches
- Height: 167 feet
- Crown spread: 68 feet
- Approximate age: 500+ years
- Board feet: 25,000
LaPine State Park Manager, Joe Wanamaker, gave insights about Big Red in an article in the local Source Weekly. He thought it was spared from being logged due to evidence of fire damage. This may have affected the quality of the wood harvested. Wanamaker also pointed out this tree is growing in an ideal location where water tends to collect in the soil from the nearby Deschutes River.
A paved, ADA accessible, 1/4 mile trail leads to this unique sight. Foot traffic around this much-loved attraction caused soil compaction that threatened its growth. A protective fence was constructed around it in the year 2000.
In this map of the park, from Oregon State Parks, Big Tree is located in the lower right corner.
Whirlybirds up close: Macro Monday
Whirlybirds up close on a maple tree in my High Desert yard. I have fond childhood memories of collecting whirlybirds from the ground and tossing them up into the air. Watching them helicopter towards the ground was cheap entertainment in those days.
Baby bird among the berries: Macro Monday
This morning I was out taking pictures of the sunrise and noticed this baby bird among the berries. It was lucky to have landed in a place covered with a cushioning layer of western juniper leaves.
I looked up in the tree overhead and spotted the nest. An adult American robin perched nearby, completely motionless. I talked to it and got no response at all. I have read that birds sleep with one eye open but this one didn’t follow that theory.
When we placed the baby bird back in its nest, it squawked and that finally got the attention of its parents. I hope it stays in the nest and fledges with its siblings.
Robins like junipers because they provide shelter and food. In the fall, they and other thrushes eat as many as 220 berries in a day.
The nest is in this tree. Can you spot it?
Loop-de-loop lodgepole: Thursday Tree Love
I saw this loop-de-loop lodgepole pine growing alongside Firehole Lake Drive in Yellowstone National Park. Everyone drove right past it but I had to stop and take its picture. I wondered what stopped it from going straight up. It figured out how to grow around obstacles and keep going in the right direction. A lesson for us all.
Ponderosa pine bark up close: Macro Monday
Ponderosa pine bark up close. This bark is made even more interesting with drips of amber pitch.
Macro Monday
Rough & rippling bark: Macro Monday
Close up view of rough & rippling bark of a western juniper tree near Bend, Oregon.
Macro Monday
Fiery red oak tree: Thursday Tree Love
I watched the colors turning last fall on this fiery red oak tree in a local park in Bend, Oregon. This young tree doesn’t yet have the twisting branch structure of mature oaks, but those uniquely-shaped leaves are beautiful three seasons of the year.
Snow-capped mountain ash: Thursday Tree Love
Snow-capped mountain ash berries are a delicious dessert for our feathered friends.
Oak tree at Newgrange: Thursday Tree Love
I saw this old oak tree at Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland last winter. I think they are one of my favorite trees without leaves. Look at those branches!
A decorated tree: Thursday Tree Love
I saw this decorated tree near Sisters, Oregon. There was a nice contrast between the rough brown ponderosa pine bark and the delicate tufts of fluorescent green lichen.
A twisted life ends: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Western larch – A beauty in gold: Thursday Tree Love
One of my favorite local trees is the western larch, Larix occidentalis. This conifer tree is unique because it drops its needles in the winter. Before they litter the forest floor, the needles turn a distinctive golden-yellow color. They stand out from the deep green shades of surrounding trees.
They have a delicate, almost lacey, growth form. Look at these needles radiating out in little groups of 15-30 on this branch. They are softer and more flexible than some of their pine tree cousins.
A home for wildlife
A wide range of wildlife relies on larch for food and cover. Squirrels feed on the cones and cache the seeds for future use. Songbirds nest and forage in their branches. They are especially important to pileated woodpeckers. This tree is an important food source for several kinds of grouse. Large mammals forage on the needles as a last resort since they are not as tasty as other trees.
Continue readingPaper birch telling a story: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Aspen trees far away & up close: LAPC
Aspen trees in the fall are beautiful from far away and up close. I’m featuring autumn portraits of aspens in central and eastern Oregon.
A far away aspen stand glowing in a blaze of color on Hart Mountain.
Moving in closer to… an aspen-lined meadow at Aspen Day Use Area near Dillon Falls.
Where a tree used to be: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
A tree in the making: Monochrome Monday & Macro Monday
A tree in the making up close and in black and white.
Monochrome Monday
Macro Monday
Baby Scrub Jay in Pine: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Layered bark of junipers: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Photo Bloopers 4: More photo fun
It’s time once again for fun with photos. Welcome to Photo Bloopers 4! This is what I do with pictures that don’t quite fit in or turned out weird looking. They needed a few words to make them more interesting. Hope they entertain you!
Spruce Cones in Snow: SMM
We got some much needed snow in the last few days of our mild winter. This close-up of spruce cones in snow was taken in my yard in Bend, Oregon.
Sunshine’s Macro Monday (SMM)
Paper birch up close: SMM
Spruce cones up close: SMM
A photograph of spruce cones up close that I took in my Bend, Oregon yard.
Sunshine’s Macro Monday (SMM)
Bright bouquets of fall foliage poem
Autumn
is bright bouquets
shining in fading light
warming our souls through the winter
season
A covered wagon at rest: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Pollen painting in a puddle: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
The Ents are Watching: Monochrome Monday
The Ents are watching you so be kind to our forests.
Monochrome Monday
Birch trees in black & white: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Pining for Ponderosa Pine: LAPC
Ponderosa pine is a tree for the senses. These trees can grow as tall as 268 feet. Their bark turns an interesting shade of orange-red as they mature.
The branches twist and contort into interesting shapes as the tree ages.
The furrowed bark has been described as smelling like vanilla, butterscotch, or cinnamon. The bark looks like jigsaw puzzle pieces.
I love taking pictures of bark! See Silent Barks for a few more of my photos.
A frosty spruce: Monochrome Monday
Monochrome Monday
Branches in a new light: LAPC
These images show branches in a new light…
Reclining and resting in a sea of green
Coated with a covering of snow
Framing a fiery sunrise
Burdened with a bounty of fruit
Shrouded by the smoke of a prescribed burn
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Magical Light
All spruced up and nowhere to go: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday