
According to statistics November is on average the cloudiest month in this part of the country, but as you can see by the above photo not every day is totally cloudy. This was one of those blue sky, white puffy cloud days and I took this photo because of the clouds. That lower one was growing quickly and I thought it might become a thunderhead, but it never did. It just got bigger.

Many of the photos in this post were taken before the snowstorm I showed in the last post. Snow or not I won’t be seeing anymore fleabane flowers for a few months now. It’s just too cold now for flowers.

November can be a very cold month, when we start to really realize that winter is right around the corner. Frost on the windows helps remind us of that, and I caught this frost crystal growing on my car winshield. They’re beautiful things that most of us pay no attention to.

Ponds are starting to freeze up as well. Bright sunshine has little real warmth in November unless it is coupled with a southerly breeze.

I went to the river to see if any ice baubles had formed along the shore but I got sidetracked for a bit by the beautiful light.

I’ve never seen this stretch of water look gold and blue like it did on this morning.

It was like seeing molten light. None of these colors have been enhanced by me. Nature did all the enhancing.

And on another, colder day, there were ice baubles growing along the shore. If you’ve ever made a candle, you know that you dip the wick in hot wax over and over again, letting the wax harden between dips. If you think of the twigs as wicks, you can see how every wave crest “dips” the twigs in water and the cold air hardens that water into ice. Over time, ice baubles like those seen here form.

Twigs aren’t the only thing that the ice forms on. Anything that the water splashes on over and over will ice up.

The ice baubles are usually as clear as blown glass but on this day a lot of them had air bubbles trapped inside. Many of these examples were nearly round as well but they’re often more pear shaped. Along a river or stream is the only place I’ve ever seen them form in this way, though I suppose they could form anywhere where there is splashing water in winter.

On shore, the sun lit up an oak leaf beautifully.

Some of the biggest oak leaves I’ve ever seen belong to the swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor.) This is a rare species in the woods here but in 2010 the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services removed a 250-year-old timber crib dam in this section of river, and when they replanted the river banks, they chose swamp white oak as one of the tree species. Though the trees are barely 10 feet tall this leaf must have been 8 inches long. Brown is the fall color for the leaves of this oak. The New Hampshire state record for the largest swamp white oak is held by a tree in Swanzey. It is 67 feet tall and has a circumference of 192 inches. That’s 16 feet, so I’m not sure if even 4 people could link hands around a tree that size.

One characteristic of swamp white oak is peeling bark on its branches, giving it a ragged look. On young trees like these even the bark of the trunk will peel, as it was on this example. Planting this species of tree here makes sense because it is tolerant of a variety of soil conditions and can stand drought or flood. The only thing they can’t bear is beavers, and these critters have cut down and hauled off many of them.

When I was taking photos of this tree’s branches I looked down and sure enough, beavers had been at its bark. This tree is a goner, I’m afraid. It has been girdled.

At this time of year, when the soil starts to freeze but before any snow falls, you can often hear the soil crunch when you walk on it. That’s the signal that you should get down on your hands and knees and peer down into those tiny frozen canyons. If you do you’re liable to find ice needles there, because the crunching you heard was probably them breaking. Several things have to happen before needle ice can form. First there has to be groundwater. Next, the air temperature has to fall below 32 degrees F right at the soil surface while the soil and groundwater remain thawed. Hydrostatic pressure forces the groundwater, sometimes super cooled, out of the soil where it freezes instantly into a “needle.” As more water is forced out of the soil the process is repeated over and over, and each needle grows in length because of more water freezing at its base. I’ve read that each thin needle is hexagonal in shape, and that needles have been found that were 16 inches long. The needles in these photos were 1-3 inches long I’d guess, and they were frozen into ribbons. They’re another of those gems of nature that many never see.

Puddle ice has been a friend of mine for a very long time. When I was a boy, after the snow melted in spring, I’d get my bike out and ride it to school. It was still cold enough for ice to form on the puddles and I used to think it was great fun to ride through them so I could hear the strange tinkling / crinkling sounds that the breaking ice made. I have since found out that the whiter the ice, the more oxygen was present in the water when it formed. These days instead of breaking the ice I look for things in it. This time I thought I saw a penguin in that curvy shape to the right of center.

I saw a pair of mallards but this is the only shot that came out useable. I thought this was unusual because usually one will tip up while the other stands guard and watches.

An oriental bittersweet vine had reached the top of a small tree and many of its berries had fallen into a bird’s nest, built where the branches met underneath the bittersweet. Birds love these berries but I think the bird that built this nest must be long gone for warmer climes. These vines are terribly invasive so the fewer berries eaten by birds, the better.

The birds have been eating the river grapes, finally.

They have plenty to eat. It has been an exceptional year for grapes and many other plants.

I love that shade of blue on juniper berries. A waxy coating called bloom reflects the light in a way that makes them that color. I always wonder how many gin drinkers know that the unique flavor in their drink comes from this plant’s fruits. Though they’re called berries, botanically speaking juniper fruits are actually fleshy seed cones. Unripe green berries are used to flavor gin and the ripe, deep purple-black berries are the only part of a conifer known to be used as a spice, often used on game like venison, moose and bear meat. Birds also love them so they won’t last long.

The winterberries (Ilex verticillata) are covered with berries this year. This native holly holds its berries through the winter and they look great against the white snow. They have a very low-fat content and birds won’t eat them until other fruits with higher fat contents have been eaten. Other plants that fruit in the fall like maple leaf viburnum, high bush cranberry, and staghorn sumac also produce fruit that is low in fat content. That’s why you often see these plants with the previous season’s berries still on them in the spring. Due to the light of the day all three cameras I carried had a hard time with these berries but I wasn’t surprised because red is one of the hardest colors for a camera to capture.

I found a very old hemlock log. The branches had been cut off long ago but the stubs that were left were amazing in their texture. It was if someone had carved them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before.

Orange fan shaped jelly fungi (Dacryopinax spathularia) grew on the dark end of a log and looked like tiny lights. Actually they were more nose shaped than spatula shaped but I’ve found that fungi don’t always live up to what they were named. In the winter they’re a pretty spot of color in a white world.

But for color in winter turkey tails (Trametes versicolor) have to take the prize. These examples were beautiful, and they wore my favorite turkey tail color combinations.

I saw this foreboding sky at dawn one morning. I thought it was beautiful and I hope you’ll think so too.
In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in
But first, you hear the crackle of their wings. ~Vera Nazarian
Thanks for stopping in.
So many miss the beauty of the coming of winter. I hope your post gets more people to enjoy. Thank you.
*Miki’s Picks local hikes* Miki’s photos Self employed ramblings
Thank you Miki, I hope so too!
The frost on the windscreen is startlingly turquoise.
I think it was the light. The sun had just barely shown itself.
THANK YOU for taking us with you .. in particular – the fleabane flowers, Winter turkey tail, the old Hemlock log AND that speculatar sky at dawn.
You’re welcome Krys. I’m happy that you enjoyed them!
Another super post! I’m not sure how you get them done twice a week!
This post was packed with interesting and beautiful things. The frost on the window is so pretty, and the molten river water. This are things you are lucky to catch, I’m sure it is more than luck with you. Like you said don’t breathe on the frost.
I haven’t been getting outside much recently so I especially enjoy seeing the things you show us. Thanks again Allen!
You’re welcome Chris! I do a lot of walking and shutter clicking!
Most everything in these “things I’ve seen” posts are leftovers. Stuff I think is too interesting to delete, mostly. I’m glad you liked it!
I hope you’ll have some decent weather that will let you get outside. It hasn’t been too bad here. At least not yet.
This has to be my favourite of your posts… so far. I can feel the crunch of the ice needles and the frozen puddles. That weathered hemlock branch and the blue turkey tails were the best. And I finally have some clues to spot a white swamp oak! I think I have them on my property here in Ontario down by the creek.
Thank you so much for what you do. It inspires me to “get out there”
You’re welcome, Mavis. I’m always happy to hear that people get something from these posts!
The ice baubles are amazing. I wish I saw them here. Your ice crystals on your car windscreen were a beautiful colour.
Thank you. The ice baubles are fun to see but it has to be well below freezing for them to form and you might not want that kind of cold.
The sunlight was just right for that ice crystal. If only that were always true!
Wow, Allen, ya got some great shots on this hike. The blue and gold water!! I have some treasured shots of frosted car windshields, they’re just like brocade or lace. That hemlock stump is a piece of art! Your sunrise is just molten. My morning walk includes the time leading up to sunrise and almost daily includes vivid, constantly changing colors. Some defy description, as there are no words for those colors, IMHO. Mother Nature is a true magician.
Thanks Ginny, I’m glad you liked it! Because I have to leave so early for work I can’t do the kind of morning walk you describe, but soon. Retirement is less than 90 days away now so I’ll be seeing plenty of sunrises soon, but for now I have to just drive through them.
Gorgeous colors. Always love your ice photos in all forms. Thanks for the virtual kaleidoscope of nature!
You’re welcome Cathy. There will be more ice photos coming soon!
Loved the old hemlock stump. Thanks.
You’re welcome Vicky. I’m glad you liked it!
Wow! So many interesting things in this post… I love the ice baubles, especially that closeup with the bubbles inside. I also love to find that icy surface on puddles. Ditto for the frost on the windshield. Beatrice Trum Hunter was more widely known for her natural foods books, but she was also known for her photos of frost on her porch windows. And I loved all the colors and textures in the nest photo. And then that hemlock log or stump! Thanks for taking us along!
You’re welcome, Pat, and thank you. I haven’t heard of Beatrice Trum Hunter. I’ll have to look up her frost photos. I’d love to see them. I think she and I might have a lot in common!
I have aught up now, and enjoyed the trip through mid autumn to the threshold of winter. The posts read like a book of the seasons, and there is much to see, and learn from. Thank You, Allen!
You’re welcome Lavinia!
Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Ann!
I loved the colors and textures in these photos. The windshield frost was amazing. It gave me pause to think when I realized it “grows” in a similar shape as does some plants. A continuance of nature even in water.
Thank you. Yes, nature seems to use the same shapes over and over in many different ways. Spirals for instance, are everywhere. Finding them in unexpected places is always fun.
First of all the frost on your windshield is beautiful. The shape, the detail, the color, such a simple thing, but wow, nice. I like the dipped candle reference. I used to make all sorts of candles. Dipped, sand molds and all sorts of other molded candles back in the day. There was one of the first Yankee Candles stores down near South Deerfield, MA where I got books and supplies. I am fascinated that they are still around to this day. Both mallards beaks down, that’s cool. And I think I’m seeing a little Gandalf the Grey on that old hemlock log. I don’t know.
Thanks Dave. The trick with frost crystals is to get there just as the sun comes up, before it melts them. And you can’t breathe on them either.
I remember the candles you made. I especially liked the light bulb candles. I made one of those once myself and found out how difficult it was. Candles are big business now.
I read about Gandalf but I never did see the movie, so I’ll have to take your word on that. It was an interesting branch!
Yeah, the light bulb candles were a bit tricky. Not too hot, not too cool. The right thermometer helps. I tried to get plenty of color in them, sort of a tie die thing guess. I read the Tolkien books and saw the movies, old and new. Another great way to escape for a while, but I think I’d rather see ice baubles and ice needles. Thank you and good night.
Have a good sleep!
What beautiful and interesting things you see. I particularly enjoyed the frost crystal and the gold and blue water.
Thank you Susan. I was happy with the way the frost crystal looked in a photo and I’m still amaxed by the color of the light on the river that day. So many beautiful things to see!