October 16, 2012

            In his landmark book A Sand County Almanac, in which he wrote about the Sand Counties of Wisconsin, Aldo Leopold begins one of his essays on October as follows:

            There are two kinds of hunting:  ordinary hunting and ruffed grouse hunting.

            There are two places to hunt grouse:  ordinary places and Adams County.

There are two times to hunt grouse:  ordinary times and when the tamaracks are smoky gold. 

            As the fall has taken us past the peak of leaf season, there is a tendency to think that the show is over and to brace as the damp chill of autumn sets in.  But that is not the case.  Many sugar maples are still a brilliant orange.  And aspen, white birch, and beech, which turn later than most tree species, offer an array of yellows and oranges to hillsides.  And the tamaracks, in the words of Aldo Leopold, are smoky gold. 

tamaracks
Tamaracks glow smoky gold on an overcast October day.

            I can’t think of a more appropriate description.  The gold of tamaracks isn’t the sear-your-retinas yellow that many trees possess, but an equally beautiful, yet subtler charm that seems to encapsulate mid-October in the Adirondacks.  Perhaps the smoky quality is partly due to the fact that we regularly see golden tamaracks in misty, wet October weather. 

            Tamaracks (also known as larch; the species here is the American larch) are deciduous conifers, a cone-bearing tree that sheds its half inch needles each fall like most of our broad-leaved plants and trees.  And those needles change in color before they fall.  The stems have small knobs all along them – where the clusters of soft needles attach.  They are common across the region, but are particularly common in wet, boggy habitats – they can tolerate the wet, acidic conditions of bogs better than most other tree species.  In fact, they are quintessential bog species in the Adirondacks, and any hike into bog habitats will include tamaracks and their amazing smell (take a whiff on a warm, sunny day, or check out the scent station at The Wild Center).  An important part of the ecosystem, their seeds, needles, and inner bark are eaten by a variety of animals including ruffed and spruce grouse, as well as porcupines and other rodents. 

            Aldo Leopold’s essay uses the changing of tamarack to mark the best time to go ruffed-grouse hunting.  I do not hunt, but for those who do, the smoky gold of tamaracks is often in the backdrop of their experience.  For folks like me who do not hunt, it is part of October birding and hiking excursions.  To me, the changing of the tamaracks signifies a change in the season – we are now entering the second half of October.  Days are getting notably shorter, cooler, and on some days snow clings to the tops of the mountains.  Most of the songbirds have left the Adirondacks, but there are still mixed October flocks of black-capped chickadees, golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets, and yellow-rumped warblers.  Ducks and other species of waterfowl (as I wrote about last week) are moving down from the north, stopping on area lakes.  And my yard is full of sparrows – white-throated, white-crowned, song, chipping, dark-eyed juncos, and the other day, a fox sparrow.  And all these things happen when the tamaracks are smoky gold.

Tamarack - Bloomingdale bog
Tamaracks are in full color across Bloomingdale Bog, glowing from across the bog mat.
   

Right now, tamaracks are golden across the region.  The golden lanterns light the way along the Bloomingdale Bog Trail and glow from across the bog mat.  And the bog on the backside of Lake Colby in Saranac Lake is accented with the flaxen hues.  Any hike in a bog or coniferous habitat you take in mid-October will likely have them – but enjoy them now.  Because it will not be long before wind and rain will cause those needles to come sifting down like golden snow, and the trees will stand naked until next spring.  But until then we will enjoy the smoky gold of the tamaracks. 

tamaracks
Tamaracks glow smoky gold on an overcast October day.
Tamarack - Bloomingdale bog
Tamaracks are in full color across Bloomingdale Bog, glowing from across the bog mat.

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