Outdoor Hour Challenge #36 is our autumn tree study. Back in April, we chose a dogwood as the tree to study throughout each season of the year. That was one of the first of Barb's weekly nature studies we ever did! You can see our spring study here.
We've been paying attention to all the changes in the trees we pass on our walks, as well as in our own yard. The dogwoods are a beautiful deep red at this time of year. One we passed on a walk yesterday had lots of bright red berries, but ours only has a few. Kathryn is easily persuaded to study our tree because it means she can climb it. She's just as much of a little monkey as I was as a kid. Actually, I climbed up there today to get this photo, and discovered that my sock monkey slippers are not the best tree-climbing footwear.
Kathryn noticed that the bark on the trunk and the bigger, older parts of the tree is very bumpy, but the newer, smaller branches are much smoother. She described the color of the bark as "blackish-gray with white splotches." 
She measured the circumference of the trunk: approximately 21 inches.
We didn't see any creatures in our tree today (except for each other!). The buds that are on the tree now will remain tightly closed until springtime; we pulled one apart to see the layers of sepals, then petals, then the tiny cluster of flowers inside. It really amazes me that they aren't damaged by winter weather. In her journal entry, Kathryn wrote about the bark, the berries, and our dissection of the bud. She has taped a red leaf onto the page, and we'll add an autumn photo of our tree, too.
