December Column as published in the Woburn Advocate
Crunch, crunch, crunch! If you come into Horn Pond by way of the Water Street entrance, you know just what I am talking about! This year there is a bumper crop of acorns! And since there are several large Northern Red Oak trees at this entrance, the road is literally covered in acorns! The Northern Red Oak is a member of the red oak family of which we have several kinds at Horn Pond including the afore mentioned Norther Red, the Black Oak and a shrubby tree called Bear Oak. We also have a few White Oak which are the only members of the white oak family that I have found at Horn Pond. The easiest way to tell them apart is by their leaves. All the leaves of the red oak family have pointed, bristle tipped lobes or fingers as some call them, and all the leaves of the white oak family have rounded lobes or fingers. For those that observe more closely, trees of the red oak family usually have a darker bark, where white oak is lighter, almost ash brown in color sometimes. One of the biggest differences, though, is in the acorn production. The acorns of the White Oak mature in only one year. They contain fewer tannins and are tastier to wildlife. The acorns of the Northern Red Oak and the others in the red oak family, have acorns that take two years to mature. They do produce ripe acorns every year, however, but every few years there is a bumper crop of acorns, like this year!!! These red oak acorns are higher in tannin content because of their longer maturity and so are much more bitter! Have you ever watched a squirrel burying acorns? It is usually the red oak acorns he is burying as some of the tannins leach out while in the ground. The white oak acorns are usually eaten right away to help put on fat for the winter. Oak trees are the most numerous genus in the forest across much of temperate North America and we have quite a few oaks here at the Pond. In fact, the technical name for most of the woods around Horn Pond is “Dry Oak/Hickory Woods”. This is a forest type dominated by oak but with many hickory. This is definitely what we have at Horn Pond. And so, the huge acorn crop this year!
Another thing that you might notice this time of year is old nests in trees! There is a nice little tree along the Causeway with a lovely little hanging nest in plain sight, now that the leaves have dropped. If you walk in the woods, or even just around the Lagoon, you might see what looks like large piles of leaves in the trees! These are squirrel nests! When they are raising their young in the spring they will make several of these nests and move their young from nest to nest to try to fool predators. And while you are looking up, take a look at the shape of the trees. In winter, without leaves, the shape becomes very apparent. Some trees have branches with lots of crooks making them look like a ‘Halloween’ tree. Some have wide spreading, graceful branches like an umbrella and others have tall, egg-shaped crowns. Some are slender and graceful and others are short and fat. Birch, Aspen and Cottonwood have pale to white bark and are easily identified. Others have branches that look black against the winter sky. These are the ones that stand out so well after a light, sticky snow!
So next time you are walking outdoors, look up at the muted world of winter trees! That is when you aren’t dodging the acorns underfoot!
By the way, this year the December full moon, called the Cold Moon, is on Christmas evening. What a special night for a moonlit walk at Horn Pond!
Another thing that you might notice this time of year is old nests in trees! There is a nice little tree along the Causeway with a lovely little hanging nest in plain sight, now that the leaves have dropped. If you walk in the woods, or even just around the Lagoon, you might see what looks like large piles of leaves in the trees! These are squirrel nests! When they are raising their young in the spring they will make several of these nests and move their young from nest to nest to try to fool predators. And while you are looking up, take a look at the shape of the trees. In winter, without leaves, the shape becomes very apparent. Some trees have branches with lots of crooks making them look like a ‘Halloween’ tree. Some have wide spreading, graceful branches like an umbrella and others have tall, egg-shaped crowns. Some are slender and graceful and others are short and fat. Birch, Aspen and Cottonwood have pale to white bark and are easily identified. Others have branches that look black against the winter sky. These are the ones that stand out so well after a light, sticky snow!
So next time you are walking outdoors, look up at the muted world of winter trees! That is when you aren’t dodging the acorns underfoot!
By the way, this year the December full moon, called the Cold Moon, is on Christmas evening. What a special night for a moonlit walk at Horn Pond!