• Friday-What'sUP November 6 - 09:52 pm

E. Neil Harri is at it again…bringing us the beauty of the U.P. from his office window in the skies. Today he's taking us over two scenes from the Porcupine Mountain State Park, both of which are showing that on the day he flew over, the color was mostly gone. The photos are still outstanding, even with the muted colors of late fall.

Neil's third shot was snapped flying over the Black Forest in West Gogebic County, where the Tamarack Trees were at their peak (yellow) color. He added some interesting info along with this photo:

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Quote:

"The Black Forest has great biodiversity. You can see how many different tree species are in this spot. The spruce bud worm went through there last summer. It looks like most of them grew their needles back.
I understand that Gogebic County manages its own public forest and they have their own county biologist. The other counties in Michigan let the state do the management. County residents can lease a few acres for camps at a good price and there are a few in this patch of forest."

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Being up that high, Neil and Mary, it's breathtakingly beautiful!!

Great photos today. I always enjoy looking at aerial views. It gives a great sense of perspective.

Amazing pictures...thanks Neil!

Greetings:

Black Forest or Black River Forest in Gogebic County?

Tough to tell from the photograph if the spruce bud worm is winning or losing. I see the yellowish trees as dead and the bug winning, but perhaps not.

The angle of the aerial photograph of the Lake of the Clouds in the very first picture appears to look like a very old meteorite impact crater.

JT

JT...

I'm not sure whether it is the Black Forest or the Black River Forest, but it's in West Gogebic County.

Of course you can't tell about the spruce bud worm winning or losing from the aerial photo, but E. Neil Harri is a DNR pilot, so he shared the information he's garnered about the subject. As for the Yellowish trees, they are not dead, they are Tamarack trees or Larix laricina and in the fall, their needles turn bright yellow before they drop off, then they grow again in the spring. You can read more about them here: Tamarack tree (Larix laricina)

I was wondering where Mr. Harri was...Great pix and a nice change of scenic perspective. Watch out for those drones.

E. Neil Harri was having trouble logging in from his iPad, so I'm posting this for him:

Neil says: I know the locals call it the Black Forest. The black river itself is further to the east. The foreground shows mostly spruce. The silver ones are dead and won't come back. The lighter green ones have regrown their needles after being stripped bare. According to our specialist, the last time budworm came through was about thirty years ago. It killed up to seventy percent of spruce that time.

Maybe Neil can mount a couple 50's on his plane to combat those rogue drones.... ;-)

I can guarantee that is not a meteor impact crater there, JT. What you are seeing is the alternating layers of volcanics and sediments that form the ridges in the Porcupines, much like the ridges on the Keweenaw. You can also see the different landscapes by the types of trees you're seeing from the air. Tamaracks usually indicate a more swampy area, while one will usually see maples/oaks on more hilly, drier soils. Pines are also a good indication of a more sandy soil.

I am still on the road, returning from Baltimore, Maryland and the annual GSA conference. Currently, I'm in Huntsville, Alabama awaiting the Tech Hockey games against Huntsville. GO HUSKIES!!!!!

Thank you, Mary and Neil, that's interesting information. In our area we've had trouble with the Asian Long-horned beetle and Emerald Ash Bore. I lost about 13 trees to the AL-HB. I have some ash trees but I don't believe they've been infested.

Safe travels, Capt. and enjoy the game.

The Autumn colors have obviously peeked.

Go Huskies! How fortuitous that your way home brought you to the
game. I have a cousin there who will, alas, be routing for the other
side.

Splendid photos, Neil.

phenomenal.

Great photos and lots of great information!!
Thanks!!!

Too bad for your cousin Kosk; Tech won 4-2.
But, UAH is definitely getting better.

I'm glad Tech won.