RHH's photos with the keyword: ponderosa

Hoarfrost on Ponderosa Pine needles.

These are about the only trees that grow in our area, the Ponderosa Pines. This one was photographed near Hog Lake.

This is our native mistletoe, a plant that parasitizes our local Ponderosas. It stunts the trees on which it grows, especially young trees, but is an important plant for many insects and birds.

This is our native mistletoe. There are a number of related species, all of which parasitize different Pines, but this one is exclusive to Ponderosas.

This is our native mistletoe, the Western Dwarf Mistletoe, a species that parasitizes Ponderosa Pines. It affects the trees, stunting their growth and even killing young trees, but is an important plant, providing food and other necessities for insects and birds.

We noticed the frozen sap hanging on this cut branch of a Ponderosa as we were out walking and stopped to take photos. The branch had been cut because it was hanging over the lane where we were walking and interfered with traffic.

Today's photos are of what we sometimes call "small nature," little things we see along the way as we are walking and hiking and stop to photograph, in this case some lichens on the branch of a Ponderosa that my wife noticed. If I am not mistaken there are three different lichens here, including the little patch of orange at the top, but I've not tried to identify any of them. Note: Janet has correctly identified the orange lichen, I believe, as Xanthoria parietina, the Common Orange Lichen and I believe the green lichen with the fruiting bodies to be the Brown-eyed Wolf Lichen, Letharia columbiana. The third, appearing as blue-green scaly patches I can't see well enough in the photos and will have to look for it again.

We live in an area known as Malloy Prairie, an area of grassland and Ponderosa forest. This photo was taken behind our home along an unpaved lane.

We live in an area known as Malloy Prairie, a rocky area of grassland and Ponderosas with a thin soil cover. The area is dotted with long narrow lakes that appear to have been scoured out by cataclysmic floods and the larger area is known geologically as the channeled scablands. This photo was taken along the lane to the east of our home.

This is typical of the area in which we live, grasslands and Ponderosa forests. The soil is thin and not of much use for anything but grazing but the area is dotted with deep, narrow lakes that have attracted homeowners and boaters. The larger area is known as the channeled scablands.

The three photos I've posted today are of a pond just down the road from our home. Though it nearly dries up in the summer it is home for numerous ducks and geese in the spring and is full of water then. We've even seen several Moose around the pond. It is on private property so we have not been able to explore it or walk around it but usually stop when we are out walking.

This is a pond north of our home when the water is higher in the spring. We go there then to watch the ducks and geese that are stopping there.

This is the pond north of our home on a frosty winter morning.

Taken the same morning as the previous series of photos, a morning following a night of freezing fog, these photos were taken near Clear Lake, the lake near our home, and are of the Ponderosa Pines growing there.

These Ponderosa Pines ae growing in the community park on Clear Lake, the lake near our house. They were covered with hoarfrost when the photo was taken.

Taken on a frosty morning after a night of freezing fog, these Ponderosas were photographed near Clear Lake, the lake across the road from our house.

We have had snow and more snow the past few weeks, close to a one and half meters (five feet). Some of it has melted but most of it is still on the ground. In spite of the snow we take a walk every day looking for things to photograph and this snowy lichen was one of our finds and one of the few things that's green at this time of the year.

Yesterday a grandson and I went snowshoeing at Mackenzie Conservation Area northeast of Spokane, Washington. We snowshoed to Newman Lake and back, stopping for lunch at Turtle Rock near the lake.