Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Frozen water droplets


They look like liquid water droplets but when I touched them they were hard little ice balls.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Elegant Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria elegans




This colorful lichen was growing on a dead branch in a Maple tree, when a gust of wind broke the branch and sent it to the ground. There are several Sunburst Lichen communities on the branch - all about 1/4" in diameter but each one with a slightly different color.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Water drops



These water droplets were photographed hanging in a Giant Sequoia, Sequoia giganteum.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Up periscopes

Moss spore capsules sticking up through the snow.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Patterns in a pothole

Interesting ice crystals in a pothole in the gravel road leading to our house.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii

The sun and accompanying blue sky made a very brief appearance today. Newly fallen snow on the Doug Firs complete the scene.
Douglas Fir cones are easy to identify due to the "mice" hiding in the scales.


With needles radiating out of a common point, newly sprouted Doug Fir seedlings look quite different than when mature.

As an example of the tenacity of trees, this Doug Fir is growing on top of an old bridge support on the Trask River in NW Oregon.