Happy New Year!

Goodbye, 2018! Here are a few images from today's forest.  Happy New Year!

Different kind of White Christmas

With so much snow gone, the best way to get a White Christmas this year is to stare at mature paper birch groves.

Thaw to start winter

We won't lose all our snow, but low temp was in the upper 40s overnight.  Lots of rain, as well, so a bunch of the white stuff has withered away.  Here's a before/after taken 24 hours apart looking at the same area just west of the house.  Freezing temps return this afternoon, so we need to remember winter just started!

Yellow birch spring pole down

The bowsaw went to work this a.m. to take down two spring poles, a small sugar maple and a slightly larger yellow birch.  The bark and wood are always so pretty, even if the tree decides to make a big bend.  The pieces cut with the saw will eventually become firewood or perhaps a big walking stick.

 

Here's a pic of the tree's bend, where two big branches grew straight up prior to dropping the whole thing.

The curved tree could've learned some lessons on the right way to grow from other birches in the vicinity.

Bowsaw defeats another spring pole

A snowy forest floor signals a long break for power tools, but that doesn't mean elbow grease gets time off.  Today, the most popular forest management work of the (not yet) winter season commenced:  cutting spring poles with the bow saw.  This red maple wasn't the worst looking spring pole ever, but it sure did act like it.  Here's the curving tree before cutting.  Note how the undesirable bending biomass placed itself in a spot to shade some birches.

Here's a picture of the first bit of cutting, a look which should be a familiar sight to those who have seen pics of Hardwood Hermitage spring pole work before.  The left cut is on the inside of the bend, which will tear fibers allowing the felling cut, coming from the right side in, to drop the spring pole.

A good deal of lopping took place after the pole finally dropped.  Critters will like to munch on the red maple buds, which start to emerge this time of year.  Instead of breaking birches in the area, deer or moose can more easily chomp on the tasty ends of maple twigs.