Clouds above the forest and the Seneca River in the spring
The last time I captured a view looking over the forest in my neighborhood, the trees were bare, the ground covered in snow, and more snow was falling. This week with spring in full bloom and the sky filled with some great-looking clouds, I sent the drone up again to capture the view.
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| Looking northward toward the Seneca River at an above-ground-level altitude of 225 feet. |
Ash Trees and the Emerald Bore
A lot of the trees in this forest are ash trees. Many of them are infected by the Emerald Ash Bore (EAB) and are either dead or dying. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the EAB, a type of beetle, is an invasive insect that most likely arrived in wood packing materials from Asia approximately thirty years ago. The EAB, as its name implies, bores holes throughout the tree, resulting in the tree's death. When the ash trees become infected by the EAB, an increased presence of woodpeckers occurs. The beetles are a food source for woodpeckers.
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| The bare trees are ash trees that are dead or are dying from the EAB. |
Photographs taken on May 23, 2022, at Onondaga County, New York.
It seemed that spring/summer came very quickly this year for sure.
ReplyDeleteOttawa (where I live just north of you) and other cities have lost almost all their ash trees to the emerald borer.
(Then we lost a bunch more trees just this week with the storm that came through. A "derecho" storm. A good number of people are still without power 6 days after.)
Same here, Jim. There were buds on the trees for many weeks, frozen in time. Then one morning, I woke up, looked out my kitchen window, and the forest was green.
DeleteNice images! Very sad about the Ash trees. My in-laws just had to have theirs taken out this past week. We have friends that have had theirs treated and so far so good. We are seriously thinking about getting a drone . Love the shots you can get from one
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shelly.
DeleteWe have had to have two ash trees cut down in the last year. They were over eighty feet tall and leaned toward the house. Both of them were dead.
Get the drone, Shelly.
Sad about the trees. Yes, 99% sure I will be getting one with the Covid Bonus I am getting next month. :-)
DeleteLooking forward to your photographs from the Covid Bonus!
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