- Curious about something you saw while walking in the woods? Spot the coolest bug ever? The prettiest flower and butterfly? Stumble on a rock and found a fossil? Or was it? This is the place to show your discoveries and share in the knowledge of the natural world right outside our doors. Join in the fun everyday at The Daily Bucket.
December 2014, Florida Panhandle
Rainy day and a great day for a bucket of photos from yesterday's hike at Ft Braden in Lake Talquin State Forest. It rained all night and was still misty in the morning so the wimps backed out and left us 6 hardcore hikers to enjoy the drippy woods. This hidey-hole was dry tho.
This forest type is known as Beech-Magnolia from the predominance of these species. Beech trees are the last leaves to turn and drop each winter. The leaves are a lovely brown and some persist till spring while most cover the ground and hide the trail.
Sorry - quick break to check out the movie on GetTV - Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (1961) with Ray Harryhausen doing special effects. The strandees just battled a giant crab and flipped it into a hot spring. The scientist in me says "Whoa now, that can't be.." but it is entertaining.
Small streams snake thru the slopes; heavy rains can flood and rip away at the banks and trees. While poking around this morning, I found this interesting abstract on the history (changes) in Beech Magnolia forests.
This is one of the larger streams crossing the bottoms, and there are the hikers. I almost always stop here to take pictures. Join us for more photos below the twisty clear stream ...
So this is the 3rd or 4th day of rainy weather for the Gulf Coast. We won't see the sun till Thursday or so. But all this moisture is great for mosses. Here's a green one looking quite vibrant on a Hop Hornbeam. These understory trees typically have some moss on them as they do grow near streams along the slopes but it's never as bright as this.
Nearing the end of the 9 mile hike we came across this huge bed of deer moss. It too was lit up from the rain and as puffy as it could be.
Chestnut Oak White Oak (nice catch fb) is a common species. Most the big trees have dropped their leaves but this sapling is hanging on with green and red.
Another pleasing "fall color" is Sourwood. This small one is doing what they do best - falling over and growing sideways. The trunk is 6' behind me. I've seen them 30-40' long angling across streams and other trees.
Spruce pines - I wrote of them in comments yesterday.
And one last photo: I'm standing on a 30' slope looking down at a seepage stream feeding into Lake Talquin, the lake created by a dam across the Ochlockonee River. Given another few centuries the seepage will eat into the slope and possibly create a ravine known as a steephead. Across the lake about a mile is I-10, and I'm about a mile farther north with the same kind of woods but different understory trees. I didn't see any Southern Arrowwood yesterday but my woods are full of it. That is also one for the last fall-color trees.
Aww cool, now they are fighting a giant dinosaur bird. Wait, where did that woman come from? Alright, time to finish this up and publish. See y'all in the comments!
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