Celebrating October!

Hello River Roaders,

This is the second edition of the new monthly Grounding blog. This month we’ll be celebrating the color and fruits of October. It was one of the warmest months of October on record, and it felt like a “second September.” Let’s take a look at October on our grounds.

The many maple trees on our grounds are some of the first to change color.

We have crab apple trees on our grounds that produce many fall fruits.

Maple and tulip trees over the classroom wing in the back.

It appears to be a bumper crop for the American holly trees outside the Sanctuary. Large flocks of American robins will likely strip these fruits over the next two months.

It’s also been a bumper crop of acorns for the oak tree outside the Fellowship Hall. These large crops of acorns happen every several years and are called “masting.” The thinking is that fungi play a roll in communicating between oak trees in an area so that they mast at the same time to provide more nuts than the squirrels/deer can eat.

Goldenrod seeds provide a winter food source for birds.

Blackhaw viburnum are one of the most common shrubs on our grounds. Their fruits are also an important food source for birds.

An American goldfinch in winter plumage feeding on the seeds from the lance leaf coneflower by the fire hydrant in front. Many of our native plantings provide winter seeds for birds.

Great progress is being made on our new roof.

That’s it for this month.

Joe

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