We had a beautiful Town Forest walk today! So many signs of fall, but still some hangers-on in the nature world of the warmer weather we can still squeeze out of October - Black-Eyed Susans in the field, crickets and grasshoppers galore, a bee and even a beetle were spotted by keen eyes today.
The changing colors of the leaves were also a thing of wonder as we walked among the trees. Sassafras trees were seen with their three differently shaped leaves. Single palmate leaves, "mitten" two-lobed leaves and "dino toe" three-lobed leaves all grow on the same tree (pictured below). Lots of colorful maple leaves also caught our eyes - some with surprises on them in the form of galls and other with some signs of insects munching.
Even the evergreens caught the attention of these young naturalists. Bundles of pine needles cover the floor of the forest. How do you know which pine tree they fell from? A white pine tree's needles grow in bundles of 5 (the same number of letters in the word "white") and a red pine tree's needles grow in bundles of 3 (the same number of letters in the word "red"). Kids were fascinated by that - as though the trees had planned it that way!
We visited spots of erosion in the Town Forest. One ravine reminded us of a mini-Grand Canyon and another smaller spot of erosion was encountered along the path. We talked about water run-off and snow melt causing the erosion by taking bits of rock, sand and soil with it as it runs a downward slope. But in fact the smaller piece of erosion has the contributing factor of travelers - the kids noticed that their own feet in their climb down into that ravine took lots of sand, rock and soil down off the sides.
We hiked the trail to the commemorative plaque that tells how the land for the Town Forest was donated in memory of Henry Sargent Hunnewell by his wife to be kept as conservation land for us all to enjoy!
Check out the pictures below and ask your child to tell you about their experience on the walk today!
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