Primary daily users of Boston's fine parks are dog walkers followed by exercise walkers, joggers etc. There is good coverage of Boston parks including the Arnold Arboretum by a small but dedicated group of birders and nature appreciators. There are many tree appreciators as well but they're not all there at once all the time :-) Of course there is the famous cork tree that was loved to death. For years many elementary school field trips had a class photo shoot with everyone in the class sitting on a huge low horizontal limb on the venerable cork. One day the tree tipped over with a full contingent of students on the limb, no one was hurt except for the tree. A notable tree death at the Arbo in '09 was a magnificent Nikko Fir exploded by a lightning strike. I had visited the tree a couple days before, unfortunately never measured it. There are some particularly fine Eastern Hemlock there, not especially tall but with very good girth and looking well because of ongoing treatments to fight HWA. The lovely Dimplecone Fir (/Abies homolepis/ var. /umbellata)/ near the dearly departed Nikko Fir is from the Imperial forest in Kyoto, Japan. I can find no record of any other Dimplecone Fir in the U.S., if so it is the default national champion. -AJ
Bob wrote: > Steve > > I understand where you are coming from, but today in Arnold > Arboretum I would actually have been thrilled to see some birders. The > people I saw walking the trails were completely tuned out to any form > of nature. No tree awareness evident. They were there to walk their > dogs, jog, power walk, socialize, stroll while yapping on cell phones, > etc. The fact that it is an Arboretum was completely lost on them. > Frustrating as heck! > > Bob > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Nov 28, 2009, at 10:58 PM, Steve Galehouse <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> ENTS- >> >> Today my oldest son and I returned to the Cuyahoga Valley to >> investigate some sites for potential reports. We didn't spend much >> time measuring, rather just hiked to explore unfamiliar areas(did >> measure a white ash to 132', and a sycamore to 13' 10'' cbh and >> 113'). The neatest thing we observed was a snowy owl, perched in a >> tree in an area of larger trees. It's very unusual for one to be in >> Ohio, but my trusty Peterson's guide says it can happen---which >> brings me to the primary question of this post: Why are more people, >> generally, interested in birding than observing and measuring trees? >> I think we all can attest that on a trail we would more likely >> encounter a birder with a $800-$1200 Zeiss binocular around the neck >> than a tree measurer with a $200 Nikon rangefinder and $100 >> inclinometer. I'm in no way anti-birding, but knowing the woods seems >> so much more basic--the types of trees determine the species of birds >> and mammals present. The avian-centric position seems to be expressed >> in the promotional literature of park systems also, where rare or >> unusual species of birds present are stressed, without mention of the >> forest community that attracted them. And Jenny, this in no way is >> meant to disparage your rescue efforts in NYC. >> >> Steve >> -- >> Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org >> Send email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en >> To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
