Let's Talk Nature

Mid-November Oak Leaves /  by Todd Henson

Mid-November oak leaves

My father and I went for a very nice hike this past weekend along the Farms to Forest Trail Loop in Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. It’s a beautiful location with some forested hilly terrain and a small creek that feeds into Quantico Creek at the end of the loop. Being mid-November most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, though there were still some stragglers. This section of trail is known for having many red oak trees and I kept noticing their leaves, so I decided to photograph a few.

Would you believe I just happened to find this fantastic arrangement of three oak leaves resting on a fallen tree? Well… you shouldn’t! This is one of those less common cases where I arranged a photo to show you the leaves. Of course, it was an extremely windy day so just as I set one leaf down and tried to place a second the first was lifted up by the wind. Eventually I managed to get them all down and snap a quick photo. When I got back home I noticed I didn’t even manage to photograph the same side of each leaf! The left-most leaf is the front side whereas the other two are the backside. Oh well. 😃

What I was drawn to was the variety of color in the leaves, one red, one brown, and one green, all found right in the same spot. I believe the left and right are red oak. The middle may be black oak, as it’s not quite as narrow and pointy as the red, but I’m not certain. If you look closely at the leaves at the top and bottom you’ll also see white oak and American beech (and possibly others I missed).

And finally, another example of red oak, this time the top of the tree set off against the blue sky. Not an award winning photograph, by any means, but it shows the beautiful red leaves of red oak in autumn.

Red oak blue sky

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Natural Camouflage /  by Todd Henson

Nature is full of such incredible diversity of species. Some have evolved to stand out from the rest with bright and bold colors, while others have evolved to blend in, to remain hidden. Today we take a quick look at a small number of species and their natural camouflage. In some cases this camouflage might help a species elude predators, but interestingly, sometimes the predator is camouflaged to avoid the notice of its prey until it’s too late.

See if you can find the creature in each photo. Some are easy as I’ve moved in close to showcase the species, but others might be a little more difficult as I’ve stayed away to demonstrate how they can blend into the environment.

Click on any of the photos for a better view.

This young mantis might need to blend in to avoid other predators, but being a predator itself this also helps it catch its next meal.

Green on green, a young mantis

This moth, what I believe to be a tulip tree beauty, blends in very well with the tree it landed on, especially when seen at more of a distance. If I’d not seen it flying I might not have noticed it when walking by.

Tulip tree beauty (moth)

Here we have an example of a predator, a goldenrod crab spider, trying to blend in on this rue anemone flower, hoping to catch some insect by surprise.

Rue anomone and goldenrod crab spider

Some frogs blend in well with their surroundings, as can be seen with this pair of southern leopard frogs. They blend in even better when closer to some greenery.

A pair of southern leopard frogs

Blending in with the dirt and rocks it dug its way out of might help this newly hatched snapping turtle survive long enough to find water.

A newly hatched snapping turtle quickly moving towards water

If not for a slight bit of movement I’d likely never have seen this little brown skink, it blends so well with the background.

Looking down on a little brown skink

In this second photo the skink had heard the shutter of my camera and looked up at me, making it a little easier to see.

The little brown skink looks up at me. Needless to say, it didn’t stick around after seeing me.

Eastern fence lizards are masters of camouflage and this one picked a perfect location to blend in.

Can you see the eastern fence lizard?

As can be seen in the second photo, even when zoomed in much closer it still really blends in well with the tree.

Even up close this eastern fence lizard blends right in

Sometimes the red head of a broad-headed skink helps it stand out. But when seen against a backdrop of fallen leaves it helps it blend right in.

Looking down on a broad-headed skink

Fowler’s toads are another species that naturally blends right in, especially in a scene like this.

Fowler’s toad blending right in

This particular Fowler’s toad is lighter in color than the previous one, but it still blends right in.

Another Fowler’s toad blending right in

This was but a small sampling of the many ways different species use natural camouflage to blend in with their environment. But you can still find these species if you know what to look for, if you learn their patterns and where the different species like to hide. So keep your eyes open next time you’re out in nature. See if you can find a species trying to blend in.

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