All about Trees – Episode 2

Wonder Blog Assignment #2, Stoney Pond State Forest, NY

[1] It’s Saturday July 2nd, I’m here at Stoney Pond for about two hours, from 1:12 PM to 3:27 PM, it’s slightly breezy here, but if you forget about the wind for a moment’s time its hard to notice its presence. The temperature is in the mid 70s and the sun is shining. It may have rained the night before for a short time as the ground is a bit soggy, but not unbearably saturated.

[2] I originally intended to observe different fungi species in the marshland bordering the pond, but I was unsuccessful in these efforts so I became distracted by a gaggle of geese following two adult geese (one of them presumably the mother). The baby geese often became disorientated, and the mother led them by beginning to bob her head back and forth in the direction she was moving. The baby geese followed the mother when she was doing so. I was able to get relatively close to take some pictures, and noticed that the behavior of the two adult geese was more peaceful than the adults who tend to graze at the pond at my house. No honking, hissing wing flapping was observed. Though perhaps the movement of the mother’s head could’ve signaled she felt threatened. So, I made my best effort to make a wide arc around them to get back on the trail. From the other side, I spend some time observing the gaggle’s behavior in the water, the mother consumed the insects around her and the infants attempted to do the same. After they had left the area, I approached where they had been walking and made the observation that the areas with the highest concentration of their feces were also the areas with the most healthy plants and bordering aquatic life that merged with the land. Could their feces be high in nutrients/organic matter?

[3] I identified a species of tree named named American Beech (Fagus grandifolia). I identified this tree through a tree identification handbook I keep at home. Distinctive features of the American Beech that were helpful in my identification of the specific species were: the bark is particularly gray and smooth, dark green leaves aligned oppositely with pointed tips, parallel leaf veins off of a midrib and each side veins having their own points on the leafs. An interesting fact that I found about the American Beech is that the tree produces edible beechnuts which are consumed by squirrels, raccoons and game birds. I chose to identify this tree because as I was walking around the pond I only noticed one particular area with the tree, and I found that intriguing. Photos of the American Beech that I gathered are shown below:

[4]

Sketch 1: Felled Tree’s Rotting Carcass

Description: In this short series of sketches depicting trees, I attempt to perceive trees through a variety of states and forms. This tree is rotting and had fallen, and I found interesting the many features and activities that were occurring within the tree. Unfortunately, I did not see in advance how hard it is to draw trees with detail past a thin layer.

Sketch 2: Knotted Tree

Description: Continuing in my series of sketches of trees. I considered to switching to a different theme for my sketches but I then remembered that the only way to get better is to practice. As I continued my walk around the pond, I saw another tree that was extremely knotted was lumpy in its midsection, finding this vast amount of knots and mutations interested, I sketched the tree.

Sketch 3: Two-Footed Tree

I found this tree particular interesting because to me, it looked like it had separated legs and feet and for a brief moment from a distance, looked like a human in the shadows.

Sketch 4: Felled Tree Sinking

I chose to sketch this tree because I found the way it challenges perspective intriguing and I was curious to as how I would be able to sketch this.

Conclusion:

The sketching itself was very peaceful and opened a door of curiosity for the objects I was studying. I think through practice I will be able to better portray what my eyes see onto paper, but for now and am left with the frustration that the mass majority of the details I saw were left off paper. Granted, I may have done this to myself but accidentally thinking trees were going to be relatively simple to draw. However, I think through more practice I can get to a level that better portrays nature. As I did with these sketches, I will continue to choose settings that challenge me to think about the way I am sketching as I did today: perspective, shadows, different colors and size). Aside from sketching, I would like to capture Stoney Pond’s most beautiful moments on camera in coming visits. I don’t feel yet as though I have correctly portrayed the charm of this woodland setting yet.