Dawes Arboretum, East Side

 On March 3rd Joan and I took advantage of a rare sunny day to visit the Dawes Arboretum, primarily the wilder east side.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Before reaching the tunnel under Route 13, whereby one accesses the east side, we passed through the witch hazel plantings; witch hazel blooms erupt before almost anything else.

After reaching the east side it was a short walk to the still-frozen Scout Pond.

Soon after finishing our inspection of the pond, we heard and then spotted a pileated woodpecker some distance away. The camera wasn't as good as the binoculars, but it was good enough:

The trail has been rerouted over the years due to various heavy rainfall and wind events, such as the derecho of 2012, which

deepened ravines and knocked out bridges.

The furthest east point on the trail overlooks the gorge of Quarry Run.

Much of the landscape here is the result of being on the edge of the Wisconsin glaciation, about 20,000 years ago, when the glaciers began to melt and retreat.

On the way back Joan and I encountered this exuberant moss pushing up through the leaf litter.

The southern edge of the east side holds a Native American mound structure, once eight feet high and forty feet wide. The Arboretum removed encroaching plants in 2015. I don't have a photo of the mound, but there's one in the lower right corner of this sign.

When we passed through the final meadow before reaching the tunnel, we spotted a cluster of insect galls that were reflecting bronze sparkles of sunlight.

Joan and I did some tromping around the more manicured west portion of the Arboretum, but I didn't take any pictures until we passed this tree in the main parking area.

A lovely spread of branches, but the head is now missing!

It was another good walk in the woods.