Pine Needles in the Park

One way to begin identifiying pines is to count how many needles there are in a bunch. A walk in Prospect Park today provided that opportunity with some fallen needles conveniently located in the snow underfoot. (Of course, they can just as easily be counted on the branches of the trees in winter, unlike decidious trees.) But bark and habit and other identifiers need to be looked at too. According to Prospect Park's website, there are 150 species of tree in the park. I wonder how many of those are conifers? Probably enough to learn a bit more about the Pines this winter on walks in the park. Above, the needles of the Eastern White Pine. Below, what I think are Red Pine needles. Bundles of two are tougher.





















Sunset report: Today's sunset was pretty good. Fairly clear skies. Bonus for checking out the sunset on the roof tonight? A hawk sighting. Perhaps one of the denizens of Prospect Park. The picture is terrible. The moment was not.