Quaking Aspen and Birch look similar but very different from Cottonwood. Well, at least the bark. That's probably the easiest way to differentiate between them. Birch and Aspen have white bark. At the base of an Aspen, there will be vertical striations in the bark that may extend upward several feet, depending on the age of the tree. Cottonwood bark is dark gray and looks a lot more like an oak than the fine white paper of Birch or Aspen. See the URL below for a nice photo of Cottonwood bark.
http://www.bluewillowpages.com/mushroomexpert/morels/trees_cottonwood.html
One thing that we found intriguing about Cottonwoods, at least the Plains Cottonwoods they have in North Dakota, is that if you cut a small branch with a diameter of about 1/4 to 1/2 inch, there is a star pattern at the center. Pretty cool. I wonder if Eastern Cottonwoods have a similar feature.
There's something about the leaf attachment of Quaking Aspen that makes the leaves flip back and forth in even a slight breeze. Birch leaves seem to attach more firmly to the branch and don't wave.
As for birds, I haven't had much time to get out lately. But, I did see a relatively late OSPREY flying over the Solomons Bridge on Wednesday. They're so common in the summer that you don't realize how much you miss them until you see one out of season or in March when they finally return!
Tyler Bell
California MD
-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:Gate.G.MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE..LSOFT.COM]
Sent: Fri 10/22/2004 9:14 AM
To: ;
Cc:
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Blue Mash Nature Trail - Corrected
Rick - I'm not ID savvy with trees but my field guide points to Quaking
Aspen and not a cottonwood tree. I'll give the tree a closer look the next
time I'm at BMNT. - Tom
Tom,
Please post your final decision on the tree. I agree with you that it
could be Quaking Aspen. There are a few of them around. This isn't really
their climate, etc. but trees somehow find a way to survive where they
shouldn't. How else can we explain things like larch at Jug Bay.
Jerry |