What’s That Tree?
I would like to be the kind of person who can identify trees. I’m not into flowers, though I imagine that interest may grow once I have trees on lock. But I’d like to be the kind of person who can casually drop things like, “Look at that amazing Eastern red cedar” or “That’s a beautiful white ash.”
How would this enhance my life? I’m not sure. But birds have been difficult because they’re always moving, and trees are… stationary. I can take my time and not feel rushed. I found a tree identification site similar to eBird except for large leafy things. I mean, yes, all trees are large in comparison to a bird, but this site is literally documenting enormous trees.
Tree identification. I added it to the retirement list. Maybe it’s a better fit than birds.
2 comments
OMG – trees are so much easier! I don’t even try on those and can identify many…because of leaf shape for deciduous and needle type on evergreens. I mean, I guess birds are sort of similar, in that I can identify robins and crows and mourning doves and parrots and such. But all the little brown ones look the same to me. Now that I think about it, maybe trees are exactly the same difficulty level as birds. I can identify a maple, but have no idea if it’s a silver or a red maple. And I have no idea about the different varieties of oak… Sigh, never mind. Trees are cool though. Except for that variety of cedar (? I don’t think that’s right, but I can’t remember. Maybe it’s a cypress?) that my neighbor has that loses branches every time there’s a hint of wind.
My two wildlife conservation majors say that dendrology was their hardest class yet so happy they have that knowledge for life. The oldest is now an avid birder too and gotten us all involved. Keep trying!