I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series. As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day. Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.
Over the weekend when we were in New Hampshire, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. I stepped outside for a little nature walk with the little babe and my mother-in-law. We didn't find anything extra special, but it was beautiful all the same. The little babe was just delighted with all of the acorns, which were much larger than the ones we find at home.
I loved the bark on this tree. I am 90% sure it is a paper birch, also called a white birch. It looks really similar to these pictures. There is a yellow birch, which is also found in New Hampshire, but I think the bark is darker than this.
While searching for information about the birches, I found this webpage on the Appalachian Mountain Club's website. It has some fun and easy ways to help children (and adults!) identify common North American trees. I learned these tricks when I was studying Natural History in college and I still use them to identify trees.