A Year's Walk in the Woods

Over an 18 month period I walked a maple forest many times. Taking the "occasional" photo as I walked. (🙄)

The first part of this story shows a number of sequences of individual aspects changing over time - long or short.

The second, lengthier part, is an overall time sequence through the seasons. Some of the birds, smaller insects and butterflies are featured in the second part. Along with wild flowers and other plant life.

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Part 1

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The buds on the trees start to "pop" in April with a hint of leaves showing in late April or early May. Surprisingly quickly the canopy fills. By the end of May it is very dense. In late August hints of colour appear and by late Sept/early October the canopy is full of colour. By mid November there isn't a leaf left.

Without craning your neck, the same progression is apparent at ground level.

In early May the flowers start to come out of hibernation. One of the first to appear is blue cohosh. It starts out with a unique purple colour, with tiny yellow flowers. The plant rapidly grows to about 12-15" and turns green. The flowers become berries, which start out green but by mid-August they are a bright blue and 3/8" in diameter.

Maple trees get their start from seed in late April/early May.

If you look closely you'll spot Jack-in-the-Pulpit emerging. Then Jack appears in the pulpit. A few months later a large mass of green berries appear that turn a bright red over a few weeks.

Bloodroot is another early bloomer, the buds come up wrapped within the leaves.

Queen Anne's Lace is a very common tall flower found in open areas. The blossoms are large and last a few weeks, then undergo a change, some still standing tall in the winter.

It is very hard to see (you can't see it in the picture) but the blossom has a very tiny reddish purple single floweret in the centre. Purportedly this the blood of Queen Anne who pricked her finger while making the lace.

Common milkweed, a favourite of the monarch butterfly, produces a heavy bouquet of flowers, forms pods and then releases its seeds with the wind.

Purple flowering raspberry has a rose-like flower that produces berries by late summer.

Baneberry, in both white and red varieties.

Shaggy mane mushrooms don't last more than a fews days at best, going from a nice white papery cone to almost a black mush.

These mushrooms grew, flourished, and slowly faded over a full two months.

But some fungus doesn't change much even over almost a year.

Part Two

This part is quite lengthy, but hopefully gives a full appreciation of the woods throughout the year.

Winter's snow melts away quickly in the spring

There are a variety of trees to be found in the woods, along with the maples and evergreens.

Stilted roots appear from under the snow, signs of woodpeckers having been busy over the winter are everywhere. (Stilted roots are caused by a new tree growing on top of a stump which gradually rots away leaving the new tree on "stilts".)

Early morning ice melts in small puddles, flattened ferns appear from under the snow and burrs are ready to catch a ride on your clothing.

While bare, the trees are far from dormant, with sap running to nourish the tree.

Moss, leeks and trout lilies start to grow, often captured within the grasp of last year's leaves.

The first spring wildflowers start to show: bloodroot, blue cohosh, coltsfoot and hepatica.

More birds have appeared. Yellow-bellied sapsucker (that loves to hammer on anything metal), a robin, phoebes build their nests, purple finch, partridge and a song sparrow.

Leeks appear in large clumps.

Pussy willow, and pussy willow-like, tufts appear on some bushes/small trees.

More flowers (and seedlings) appear. Trout lilies, bellwort, red and white trilliums and maple tree seedlings.

Horsetail, sedges and moss make a start, or recover from winter.

In late April the mourning cloak, left, is the first butterfly to arrive. An eastern comma butterfly (yes that is its name) can also put in an unusual early appearance.

Ferns arrive in late April

Late April, early May, brings new leaves throughout the woods.

More wild flowers appear - jack-in-the-pulpit, toothwort, violets. The cohosh has produced its berries.

During May the tree canopy closes.

Fresh fungus appears, and "odd trees" (stilted root, damaged) catch your attention

Over the next few weeks anemone, fleabane, banberry, false solomon seal, grass, daisies and buttercups produce their blossoms.

If you look closely at the buttercups (which are unfortunately slightly cropped by this webpage) you'll see the insects are enjoying early summer. A possible stink bug and a long-jawed orb weaver spider.

Other insects are around as well. Active and empty cocoons, and tent caterpillars.

My favourite fern, maiden hair, has fully grown. Hiding leopard frogs.

More wildflowers appear in June and July: milkweed buds, hawkweed, purple flowering raspberry, blugloss, bird's foot trefoil, chickory, heal all, milkweed flowers, Queen Anne's lace, and black-eyed susans.

Some flying insects of the summer: hover fly (when is a bee not a bee? when it is a hover fly), black swallowtail, dun skipper and an admiral butterfly (which is often mistaken for an admiral, until you notice the horizontal black line across the bottom wings).

The white, and red, baneberries are developing, the cohosh is showing a hint of blue.

Late July produces early mushrooms in the more damp areas. They are a harbinger of what follows over the next month or so....

Despite their short lifespan of a few days at most, shaggy mane mushrooms are a favourite.

Showing my bias..... Indian pipestem looks like a fancy mushroom, but is not. It is a relative of the blueberry. The white colour is because it has no chlorophyll and does not depend on photosynthesis.

Fall wildflowers bloom in September: boneset, golden rod, asters, snakeroot, herb robert, evening primrose, thistle, jewel weed (touch-me-not) and fall asters.

A few less than perfect trees in the woods.

Some more of the winged insects: wave moth, mustard white moth, slaty skimmer, poundhawk and a green darner.

Late August, early September brings a few hints that fall colours are on the way.

Insect activity: locust borer beetle, bumble bees, hover fly and monarch butterly.

At the edge of the woods is a planted garden. Fourteen or so painted lady butterflies took full advantage of it.

As did an admiral, more painted ladies, several great spangled fritillaries, and a few giant swallowtail butterflies

Mid to late August, early September, cat tails appear in bull rush wetlands, milkweed form large pods, thistles go to seed and Queen Anne's lace forms a fist holding on to its seeds.

Berries are maturing: purple flowering raspberry, white baneberry, red baneberry with jack-in-the-pulpit berries showing a touch of orangish red.

Caterpillars are more noticeable in early fall: winter moth caterpillar, wooly bear and hairy tufted caterpillars.

September: the turkey tail fungus seems fresh, trumpet lichen is growing on rocks, jack-in-the-pulpit berries are a bright red and blue cohosh berries achieve their dark blue ripeness.

October, and the colours take over.

More fall colours, a wild turkey has dropped a wing feather, the milkweed pods have popped and the Queen Anne's lace have opened their fists a bit.

Winter appears

Leaves, or equivalent, stand out more against the white.

Twigs and snow (including at the end a Queen Anne's lace keeping its head up out of the snow).

Some plants seem to hold onto to their seeds into the winter.

Deer tracks

Rabbit tracks

Mouse trails and tunnels.

Fisher tracks?

Bend grass wind track

Left, day or two old deer track has allowed warm moist air to come up and form frost crystals on the edges. Top right, a slightly damp spot has built up frost crystals from the warmth surrounding it. Bottom right, frost crystals on edge of a hole over a warm area.

Snow flake crystals

But despite the cold, don't be surprised to see a crane fly or two flying around low to the ground.

And nature starts the cycle again....

Created By

Jim Robertson

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