The Urban Pantheist

5 people for a December Urban Nature walk is pretty good! This was our group picture, taken from the top of Great Blue Hill, the highest point near Boston (also the highest point within 10 miles of the coast, in Southern New England).

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We went for a walk in the morning to look at the neighborhood of Magnolia--we hadn't really seen it in the daylight.
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I went for a perfectly pleasant walk in the Dedham Town Forest today, but I got home and looked at my pictures and some of them are pretty off-putting. This first one is just an old sign indicating part of the "fitness trail," but it feels very foreboding to me. Be warned, this series includes at least one very unpleasant photograph.

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We went for a walk in Olmsted Woods Monday night, a place I used to spend a lot of time but I haven't been in a while.

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Birch tree and metal fence.

Urban species #041: River birch Betula nigra

In 2002 the river birch was chosen as the City Tree of the Year by the Society of Municipal Arborists, for its "tolerance to the urban environment," as well as "its beautiful bark in summer and winter." I chose it for the same reasons, specifically because its distinctive bark makes it easy to recognize in wintertime. The colorful bark peels even more than the bark of paper birch. It lends the tree a shaggy appearance--river birch is warm and furry looking, whereas white birches look cold and bony.

River birch can survive growing in areas that are periodically flooded, like sandbars and riverbanks. They are more tolerant of heat than white birches, and more resistant to insect pests. Its tolerance of acidic soil is especially important for its survival in Northeastern cities.

River birches seeds are eaten by a variety of songbirds.

( two long pictures )