Old trees like this snag as well as downed uncleared patches of trees provide critical habitat for numerous species of birds, insects and mammals that allow ecosystems to be diverse and healthy. I also find them beautiful to look at and exciting to photograph and this old guy is a prime example. Crown Hill Park, Wheat Ridge, CO.
nature has no boss 
Beautiful. I love old character tree snags. Looks like it was a bird condo for a while, and always interesting to see what little beetles and other tiny beasties show up to feast and break it back down to soil.
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Thanks, it was in deed a bird condo and I totally agree it is fun to poke around in this habitat to see just how many life forms are using it as food, shelter and just a place to hang out for a bit. Hope your day is going well.
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I love trees. Dead or alive. And your black and white is striking. I find it a game to look for peepers in holes of big, dead, standing trees. Owls and woodpeckers love to inhabit these spaces! I say, leave them standing. We are too anxious to take anything down for our (human’s) explicit use.
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Hi Shannon, trees are sure amazing creates and once dead do provide habitat and food for so many other forms of life. We once read a great book describing the interdependence of owls and woodpecker where the woodpecker builds a hole and then when abandoned it is used by owls. The sad thing is that our taking down dead trees for human use is mostly based upon an aesthetic which view these important habitats as ugly.
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I enjoy seeing your beautiful pictures. It’s a nice relief from a boring desk.
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Thanks for the kind feedback. Hope your are having a great day even if it is behind the desk.
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Great composition.
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Thanks Alix, hope your day is going well.
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Unfortunately there aren’t many areas anymore where a forest is still allowed to grow and wither naturally in its own rhythm of life. Here, a lot of forests are cultured for economic reasons and consist mainly of spruces, planted like soldiers in a row. Deadwood is removed and everything is neat and tidy (as far as a forest can be tidy ;)). Exception: Nature reserves.
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Hi Suzan, I always feel like I am in a natural place then the landscape is in both a state of growth and decay. New trees growing among the old ones decaying. I can be in a park with beautiful garden but somehow it feel empty in some way. Not as empty as a paved over concrete downtown of a city but still not complete. Thus, I hate when I see the city parks maintainence crew driving around cutting down trees. A few years ago they came by and knocked down all the old snags that we always saw Kestrels perched on. We have seen very few in the park since. Hope your day is going well.
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I know what you mean with “parks feeling empty”… the “vibe” of true nature is missing, the feeling that it’s living and growing – and decaying at the same time. That’s what I meant above with “growing and withering naturally it its own rhythm of life”.
It’s not complete as you say, more kind of a… tamed nature. It might look like nature with trees and grass and even some birds singing somewhere, but did you ever recognize, that the air doesn’t smell at all in a city park? That’s one of the most disturbing aspects for me and makes me feel like walking just in a huge theatre scenery.
We have a lot of parks in Munich (f.e. the biggest one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englischer_Garten), but they all have in common: no smells you typically have in real nature, like wet earth, the distinct smell of fresh air or of a forest after rain. It just smells like – nothing.
And of course they are very tidy and no snags around anywhere, so also not much room for birds. And too many people. 😉
But at least parks give people who live in a city the chance to get a hint of nature. Even if most of them don’t recognize it as such any more. 🙂
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Hi Suzan, you hit the nail on the head in that many of our city park create an illusion of nature in that we plant, prune, cultivate and arrange only and illusion of nature as nature happens only of its’ own accord. The smells, sounds an diversity of a true ecosystem are al but gone.
On the bright side there is something there with does make us feel better compared to not having any parks at all. Lose dose nature therapy in a way. Just those fractal patterns present in city parks do seem to have a calming effect and I take advantage of that as often as possible for my own sanity.
Hope you are having a fine day and have a great weekend.
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Yes, of course it’s a huge advantage for a city when there are parks, the more, the better.
I’m doing the same, trying to get there whenever possible during work breaks. You immediately feel how your whole brain starts to relax (well, at least mine). But nevertheless I’m always happy to leave the city again, when I’m going home by train (I’m commuting every day to work from outside the city and back).
Thanks, weekend was foggy and grey again (meh), hope yours brought the snow you hoped for. 😉 Back to work in a dark office (and now it’s sunny outside! Grrr! ;))
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We did get snow and it was fun to see it come down heavy for a bit on Saturday and even seeing snow falling even when in the house is a bit of nature therapy for me. Hope you do get a bit of a break from the grey monotonous rather can be well…monotonous.
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Love this shot – the contrast is great in B/W. Glad you mentioned about the importance of snags. Esp. in your area where fear of wildfires causes folks remove all dead wood. I call them birdie B&Bs.
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Hi Eliza, yes those old trees are so important and I can understand those folks living in the foothills removing some of the dead ones for fire protection as in some years the danger is quite high. Although if the fires occurred in a natural cycle the forest density and ecosystem would be a bit different and perhaps less fire prone but that is another story altogether. Anyway this little stand has been allowed to stay at a nearby park and judging from the number of holes in this guy has served those birds well. Hope your week is going well.
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