Considering how green the forest was during my visit of mid-October 2021, I originally planned this visit for the end of October / beginning of November. However, unlike 2021 when the autumn arrived late, in 2022 it came early, so I changed my flights and arrived a week earlier. That was definitely a good decision as I witnessed the transition from just before peak, to peak color. The weather was cool and sunny everyday with cold nights. In general, while the south-facing slopes were almost at peak color when I arrived, the north-facing slopes (especially the steeper, rhododendron covered ones), were already past peak, with many already completely bare trees. The lower left two-thirds of the drone picture above shows my steepest north-facing slope (Lot B) on my last day, and the upper right third of the picture shows the adjacent south-facing slope to the north.
Scarlet Oaks Pin-Pointed Unfortunately, there are not many Scarlet Oaks (Quercus coccinea) in my forest, but they are easier to find in autumn via drone, as I can zoom over to red canopies which would otherwise be inaccessible (for examples trees deep inside evergreen thickets on steep slopes) and observe the shapes of the leaves in the upper canopy, and I can also more easily spot them from the forest floor due to their deep scarlet, or rusty orange colors. I now have six counts of positively identified Scarlet Oak trees. Moving from south to north: The Scarlet Oak below is in the narrow band of rhododendron thicket at the eastern edge of Lot A. Once I spotted it, I could crawl through about 20 feet of tangled rhododendron stems to reach it. Circumference at chest height was 3 ft 1.25 inches.
The second one is also in the narrow evergreen thicket in Lot A. This is the first one I spotted as it is visible from the entry road. Due to the steepness of the terrain, I was not able to reach the base of this one.
In previous entries, I mentioned two Scarlet Oaks around the border between the northwest corner of Lot A and the southwest corner of Lot B, just within the southern edge of the evergreen thicket that cloaks most of Lot B. However, this time I could only find one of them. Could be that the other one was a case of mistaken identity.
The fourth Scarlet Oak was a new discovery which I spotted by drone. It sits in the middle of the steep, impenetrable north-facing slope in Lot B, totally inaccessible by foot.
The picture below shows the location of this Scarlet Oak. It is the dull orange canopy at the bottom-middle of the picture. Further up the steep slope towards the west, just outside my western boundary in the Conservation Area, is a cluster of at least six Scarlet Oaks (not shown on the picture below) - pity I can't add them to my forest's tally.
The fifth Scarlet Oak is also in Lot B's northern slope, further to the east than the fourth tree. Its location is shown in the second picture below, just below the middle of the picture.
I found the sixth Scarlet Oak at the edge of the evergreen thicket in the northwestern corner of Lot C, very near the grove of Eastern White Pines.
A close-up of the bark about 10 feet up from the base is shown below. White vertical streaks, similar to Northern Red Oak.
.... and finally the leaf of the Scarlet Oak - one of my favorite types of leaf. Less lobes and deeper sinuses than a typical Northern Red Oak or Black Oak leaf.
Hybrid Oaks Northern Red Oak - Scarlet Oak Hybrids In my winter 2022 entry, I thought I had found a large Scarlet Oak at the eastern corner between Lots B and C, judging by the deep(ish) sinuses of the leaves, the shape of the acorns (see picture below of leaves and acorns I found on the ground during my winter visit), and the blocky lower bark.
However, during my summer visit I saw that many of the leaves in the canopy looked more like Northern Red Oak leaves. During this autumn visit, I noticed the rusty orange color of the leaves was more similar to those of some of the Scarlet Oak trees. It really does seem to be intermediate between a Scarlet Oak and a Northern Red Oak.
At the center of this drone view are two rusty orange trees - I'm almost sure that the one on the right is the tree in the picture above, and the one on the left is possibly a second hybrid tree. From this distance they look like Scarlet Oaks.
Northern Red Oak - Black Oak Hybrids I had wondered whether two specific tree specimens were Black Oaks or Northern Red Oaks. However, I was not able to access any leaves as they were too high in the canopy. This time there were acorns on the ground underneath these two trees, but these acorns looked intermediate between Black Oak and Northern Red Oak.
Similarities to Black Oak: somewhat frilly-rimmed (tips of scales detached), bowl-shaped acorn caps. Bark dark and blocky, especially lower bark. Northern Red Oak acorn caps are not frilly-rimmed and are saucer shaped and the bark has vertical white streaks all the way to the base.
Similarities to Northern Red Oak: cap covering only about a quarter to a third of the acorn. Black Oak caps cover about half of the acorn and are even frillier-rimmed.
The first one towards the northwest corner of Lot C is a pretty large one - see pictures below.
The second suspected Northern Red Oak - Black Oak hybrid tree is in the middle of Lot A - see pictures below. Similar acorns to the one above.
Acorns from the Lot C tree are shown in the first picture below, and acorns from the Lot A tree are shown in the second picture below. Not quite Black Oak or Northern Red Oak (or any other type of Oak I am aware of).
Bigger Versions of Sassafras, Black Cherry, and American Chestnut During this visit I explored a new area of Lot A which was its southwestern corner. It is reachable by crossing a small spring-fed stream and climbing almost to the top of a ridge. Much of this corner section is covered in evergreen thicket, but its density is low enough to allow navigation through it via narrow pathways. Shortly after passing a giant Northern Red Oak, I located the SW corner rebar. Along the way (before crossing the stream), using a printed satellite map to precisely note my location, I realized that the two medium-sized Sassafras trees I found during my last visit are just outside my southern boundary. However, in this SW corner across the stream and halfway up the ridge I found another, larger Sassafras tree (3 foot 1" in circumference at chest height), in better condition than the other two. It took me a while to figure out what it was as it only had single-lobed leaves. I have never seen a Sassafras tree anywhere else that doesn't also have bi- and trilobed leaves. At first I thought it might be just another Sourwood, but the bark was ropier and less blocky, much more characteristic of Sassafras, and the yellow leaves I found scattered at its base did not have finely toothed margins.
I started this hike at the access road around where my SE corner pin should be (never found that one though), by scrambling up a steep embankment. Shortly after entering the forest, I stumbled across my largest Black Cherry specimen. It is only a sapling, but at least significantly bigger than the previous couple of seedlings I have found.
Just uphill to the north of where I park my car at the end of the road, I found what is probably the largest American Chestnut specimen. A pity that before this gets much bigger it will succumb to chestnut blight and there's nothing I can do to prevent it.
The Most Colorful Trees: Sourwood, Red Maple, Blackgum, White Oak, Scarlet Oak
I was surprised and delighted how colorful my forest was at peak autumn color, especially by drone - every shade of color imaginable was present, apart from blue of course. If it had been cloudy, the view would have probably been even nicer as the sunlight tends to wash out the colors.
The most common colors were varying shades of yellow, but the canopy was also punctuated by reds, oranges, and purples. These colors belong to, in order of abundance, Sourwood, Red Maple, Blackgum, White Oak, and Scarlet Oak. The Sourwood trees were in various shades of dark pink and red. The first two pictures below are from a large specimen in Lot A which splits halfway up to give a double crown - from below the towering canopy looked pinkish-orange in color.
The pictures below are from a bright scarlet specimen that overhangs the old logging road at the eastern boundary of Lot C.
Some of the White Oaks were also bright red. The south-facing slope of Lot C has quite a lot of White Oaks. The first picture below is from the NW corner of Lot A, and the next two pictures are from Lot C.
The next two pictures show large red-leaved Blackgum trees from above by drone. These are emergent trees at the bottom of the north-facing slope in Lot B.
The picture below shows a Red Maple tree from the newly explored SW corner section of Lot A. Many of the Red Maples had not changed color yet, but this one was well on the way.
Other Noteworthy Trees One of my three large Eastern White Pines in the NW corner of Lot C was illuminated nicely by the late afternoon sunlight.
Another view of my best specimen of Mountain Silverbell - despite the distinctive bark, it took me a while to find this one again, hidden in a patch of evergreen thicket on the south-facing slope in Lot A. Trunk circumference at chest height was 2 foot 9.25".
The huge Red Hickory at the end of the cleared driveway in Lot A was a blazing yellow.
I also gave the two Eastern Hemlock trees a second round of basal trunk spray with insecticide, this time with a mixture of Safari and imidacloprid. There was no sign of the adelgid (no white cottony specks) but I think they usually become invisible in the autumn anyway. Next spring will be key for judging effectiveness. The picture below is a twiglet from a lower branch of the tree in Lot C - looks pretty healthy, but the overall tree is still pretty sparse. The first picture shows the upper side of the leaf, and the second picture shows the underside with its two rows of whitish stomata on each leaf.