This Week, we were tasked with returning to our trees (mine being the American Beech from the last two posts), and denote any phenological changes that are coming with the Spring (now that we are finally starting to feel Spring temperatures).
The biggest change I noticed in my Beech Tree was that it seemed to be getting a lot of color back in its trunk. The tree had gone remarkably grey during the winter months, and it seemed to be greening a bit (especially by the base). My tree is pretty inset among a forest of trees (and is therefore not exposed to a lot of sunlight), but the greening effect was particularly notable on other trees in the area. A hornbeam (a sister species of the Beech denoted by the fractured trunk) near my beech had an extremely green trunk, a picture of which is posted along side some beech pics.
The buds of the Beech were coming along nicely, presenting an even brighter, more vibrant red color than the last time, pictures of a nice bud I found are included, but its possible that the redness doesn’t really come through on camera. Trust me, the buds were beginning to flower nicely.
It is worth mentioning that I have not yet seen any leaves on Beech, although I suspect this is normal (and becoming more normal in recent years as global warming shifts the start of our Spring season back). That being said, the lack of snow in my area meant that I could finally see leaves in the understory starting to turn to mulch. It was awesome to see the nitrogen cycle at work again, especially given how frigid and icy everything gets in the Winter.
Visiting my site was as amazing as ever, but it was really great to get out there in the warmer temperatures and really observe Spring! Screenshots of iNaturalist as well as some other pictures are posted below.
