The sheer sensory pleasure of being in nature is wonderful and does us a tonne of good, but what really nurtures our souls is building a deep connection with nature, an understanding that we are part of it, everything is interwoven and everything that affects nature ultimately affects us…. Getting to know the trees, just like this, and learning their names and their properties, histories and uses is a big part of that. Love your article Hannah!
I’m torn between just enjoying the sheer sensory pleasure of nature and wanting to name things. I used to run mindfulness walks on a nature reserve and often people would ask me what’s the name of that bird or tree and I would just ask them to just listen or just look and smell or feel the bark rather than trying to name everything or identify everything . But if people do want to identify trees in winter I discovered this for U.K. trees https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/mini-guides/winter-tree-shape/
I like to know what I am looking at I.e species, not just tree, bird, flower. Also important for me because I am compiling a biodiversity database for the parish I live in.
Yes, me too, definitely - I did not write about that because I didn't want to make the text too long, but knowing and recognizing what is around can be rewarding in itself.
That sounds great that you are compiling a local database!
Nice, Hannah. We, in Flanders, we have Obsidentify to identify species. I see, iNaturalist exists too in Dutch, but I am a bit suspicious about sharing my profile and data with America, these days…
I agree with you about the value of names – they help you reconnect with the same species in different locations and lead to an understanding of the tree's characteristics and 'behaviour'.
Other helpful apps are PlantNet and ObsIdentify, which also covers animals (great for insects).
It's incredible how much variation there is in bark! There's a tree in my area (the Shagbark Hickory) that I can ONLY identify by the bark. Even when there are leaves on the tree, they aren't at my eye level and the bark is so distinctively shaggy!
I really like your idea of going outside to look at trees that you've previously identified to take a closer look in this season. Might need to do that on my next stroll around the neighborhood!
The sheer sensory pleasure of being in nature is wonderful and does us a tonne of good, but what really nurtures our souls is building a deep connection with nature, an understanding that we are part of it, everything is interwoven and everything that affects nature ultimately affects us…. Getting to know the trees, just like this, and learning their names and their properties, histories and uses is a big part of that. Love your article Hannah!
Such a nice comment, thank you!!
I’m torn between just enjoying the sheer sensory pleasure of nature and wanting to name things. I used to run mindfulness walks on a nature reserve and often people would ask me what’s the name of that bird or tree and I would just ask them to just listen or just look and smell or feel the bark rather than trying to name everything or identify everything . But if people do want to identify trees in winter I discovered this for U.K. trees https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/mini-guides/winter-tree-shape/
Thanks for the tree-link!
I can definitely see that - there is a risk that we label things and then move on because we think we "know enough".
Thanks for the link!
I like to know what I am looking at I.e species, not just tree, bird, flower. Also important for me because I am compiling a biodiversity database for the parish I live in.
Yes, me too, definitely - I did not write about that because I didn't want to make the text too long, but knowing and recognizing what is around can be rewarding in itself.
That sounds great that you are compiling a local database!
Nice, Hannah. We, in Flanders, we have Obsidentify to identify species. I see, iNaturalist exists too in Dutch, but I am a bit suspicious about sharing my profile and data with America, these days…
Yes, I get that… I am anonymous on iNaturalist but that might not fully solve it.
I agree with you about the value of names – they help you reconnect with the same species in different locations and lead to an understanding of the tree's characteristics and 'behaviour'.
Other helpful apps are PlantNet and ObsIdentify, which also covers animals (great for insects).
Thanks! Yes, I should have a look at other ones too, I've become so obsessed with iNaturalist that I never consider anything else ;)
I think I have too many apps and should focus on one!
:D
It's incredible how much variation there is in bark! There's a tree in my area (the Shagbark Hickory) that I can ONLY identify by the bark. Even when there are leaves on the tree, they aren't at my eye level and the bark is so distinctively shaggy!
I really like your idea of going outside to look at trees that you've previously identified to take a closer look in this season. Might need to do that on my next stroll around the neighborhood!
Ha, that bark is quite extreme, I just looked it up!
Yeah, I think I'll try to follow some trees throughout the whole year now...