Are you ready for the cold? With the forecasted freeze keep your eyes on the Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) this week.
Again back to the creek bed. As we walked along we begin to notice these small acorn sized things. The Bur Oak’s hairy caps show the approximate size of them.
From this angle I thought it looked like a bird head and beak.
Unsure whether it was a seed or gall, I cut it open.
Hmmm, definitely a gall.
A closeup of the little critter.
Gently I coaxed it out to get a better view.
We were under Bur Oaks each time we spotted more of the galls on the ground. Jeanne spotted a cluster high above us.
It was very hard to find them in the camera. However I just pointed in the general direction and took a bunch of photos. Finally I got one. I went to gallformers.org to try for an ID. There were a lot of possibilities. But I didn’t find one that matched. Oaks host a lot of critters. If you figure it out, let us know what you find. Thanks!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
6 Comments
Interesting galls, in a cluster and pointed.
The cold front started moving in at 11 today and went from muggy & 74 to now a freezing damp windy 45. Our afternoon has been packed with removing timers on hoses and covering faucets (we have lots), wrapping heat tape on pipes, picking all of the garden and protecting our well pump in the tank house that currently has no glass in the windows. Then go work draining the pump at our camphouse. This snuck up on us while Gary was out of town. Brrr. And yall have it ahead of us and probably colder too. The geese keep changing their minds about what pond to go fly to. We love hearing and watching them.
Interesting galls, in a cluster and pointed.
The cold front started moving in at 11 today and went from muggy & 74 to now a freezing damp windy 45. Our afternoon has been packed with removing timers on hoses and covering faucets (we have lots), wrapping heat tape on pipes, picking all of the garden and protecting our well pump in the tank house that currently has no glass in the windows. Then go work draining the pump at our camphouse. This snuck up on us while Gary was out of town. Brrr. And yall have it ahead of us and probably colder too. The geese keep changing their minds about what pond to go fly to. We love hearing and watching them.
Several juncos today. Saw first one last week. Winter is on its way.
I only saw a junco yesterday.
That gall website looks really useful!
Interesting that those galls grow in a cluster. Could you tell which part of the tree formed the galls – leaf surface, petiole, branch?
No way could I tell how or where attached. Lucky that Jeanne found the cluster at all.