In fall the scenery on and around our lake in north-central Minnesota is wonderful. This post simply shares images taken this October.
Category Archives: trees
Maples in Itasca State Park
Minnesota’s Itasca State Park is best known for the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which is within the park. Established in 1891 it is the second-oldest state park in the US, only Niagara Falls State Park is older. Although it is not yet officially fall, the changing leaves on maple trees in the park were …
Oaks of Northern Minnesota
Seven species of oak trees are native to Minnesota, according to the website of the Minnesota DNR. Three of these are found in northern Minnesota; the Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), and Northern Pin Oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis). There are two main groups of oak trees, the white oaks and the red …
Hawk’s Nest in our Sweetgum Tree
A pair of hawks have built their nest in the sweetgum tree in our front yard in Louisiana. The nest is too high for us to see any chicks, but there are calls that sound like chicks and the two adult hawks seem to be tending a brood. Identification of the hawk’s species was difficult …
Conifers; Utah’s Wasatch National Forest
A winter trip to Utah offered the opportunity to appreciate conifers in a different part of the country. The photos below show three trees seen along the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, east of Salt Lake City. Lodgepole Pine The Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta subspecies latifolia) is found at middle …
Mistletoe
During walks with the dogs through our Louisiana neighborhood in January we noticed irregular balls of green leaves in tall trees that were otherwise barren. We eventually found a clump of this near enough to the ground to take a reasonable picture, and the ‘Picture This’ app identified it as oak mistletoe. Of course we …
Sweetgum Balls
The American Sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) is the second most common tree in Louisiana forests (the most common is the Loblolly Pine). Sweetgums are also plentiful in our local suburban landscape despite a significant drawback, the spiny seed-carrying balls that fall from their branches by the hundreds this time of year. The sweetgum is a …
Autumn Leaves
This post is simply to share fall scenery that we have been enjoying this year in north-central Minnesota. Its title, “Autumn Leaves” might seem familiar, it is a popular song from 1945 that has been covered by 100’s of artists and is considered a jazz standard. For anyone wanting to hear it, I’ve included a …
Signs of Fall
Maple Leaves Asters Strange Mushrooms
The seasons are changing
In early September the oncoming fall season is already evident in Northern Minnesota. In addition to clear crisp days there have been hazy days lately, reportedly caused by smoke from the terrible fires in the far west. Remarkable that the fires have such dramatic effects over 1000 miles away.
North MN Outdoors 