evergreen trees

Conifers, Evergreens, and Christmas Trees

Oakland County, MI Government 1 Comment
black bear in tree

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

I will assume you started reading today’s Wilder Side of Oakland County because of the black bear in the tree. I’ll confess: I used that photo to draw attention to today’s blog. However, I captured that image about 10 years ago in northern Ontario when a black bear yearling took shelter in the lofty branches of a spruce tree, one of many types of conifer trees in North America. It was retreating from humans, myself included, and we wisely went our separate ways.

The season of the annual Christmas tree hunt has arrived. But just what is a “Christmas tree?” The last few weeks had questions coming my way inquiring about “wild” Christmas trees of Oakland County. One question had an obvious error that had me laughing. The writer meant to inquire about different kinds of conifers that grow in Oakland County that would make good Christmas trees. A spell check error had him asking about good carnivorous trees for his home. Conifer trees do however provide excellent ambush habit for carnivorous birds such as Cooper’s hawks that wait for prey to fly by.

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It’s Totally Tamarack Time!

Oakland County, MI Government 1 Comment
yellow tamarack trees

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

The ephemeral beauty of eye-catching October tree colors faded as the winds of November strengthened. But what a month it was to explore nature’s artistic way in Oakland County and the rest of Michigan. Hikers and trail runners often paused in our parks to observe perhaps the best kaleidoscope of leaf colors in a decade, a gift from Mother Nature that coincided with an equally colorful forest floor display of fantastic fungi. Gone are the bold, brilliant shades of deep orange of sugar maples. Gone are the reddish hues of sassafras, sumacs, and red maples. Gone are the dazzling, wind-driven yellow “sparkles” of aspen leaves that quaked in gusts of wind.

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