Another Hot Day

Though not quite as warm as it has been, it was still uncomfortably hot in the sun today. We noted on our visit that some of the plant life is looking really stressed from the heat and dry weather. The most sad looking plants are where people have been camping in the past and killed the ground layer of plant material. Does the ground layer insulate against ground evaporation, thereby helping other plants?

On the other hand, the fight for survival is intense.  This oak, which fell over so long ago that there is a new path around it, is still alive in spite of the hot weather.

Downed oak

The leaves are green and acorns are popping out.

Except for the fact that it is laying on the ground, this oak looks pretty healthy!

I heard someone say once that the only "agenda" of other species is to survive long enough to reproduce. It seems only humans are "smart" enough to seek their self-destruction.

The camp we saw last time is gone, although I wish I could say the same about the garbage.  We will have to take a bigger garbage bag next time.

We picked up plenty of trash from the trails anyway, the oddest piece was a clock thrown into the wild rose bushes.

Trash collection for today

In spite of the site degradation, life goes on.  We saw 11 species of birds today and possibly heard another.  The pileated woodpecker and northern flicker can sound very similar.  We thought we heard a pileated first, but later heard the unmistakable call notes of the flicker so it made me doubt the pileated identification.  And here is clue to the presence of another woodpecker;

Primary wing feather from a downy woodpecker

About an hour later, we heard the tap tapping of a woodpecker, and there she was: "Hey, did you lose a feather?"