The Ancient Cross Timbers Consortium

Also, tree ring junkies may really dig U Tenn prof Henri Grissino-Mayer’s terrific website whose name says it all: “The Ultimate Tree-Ring Web Pages.” Its target audience is professional dendros, but he’s got tons of terrific info on anything related to tree rings. His photo gallery has some amazing shots, from multiple fire scars on a ponderosa section to photomicrographs of bristlecone pine rings.

For anyone who read this far into the comment — you might be a fellow ring nut! If you can get to Olathe South, then I have a stack of wood specimens you can borrow from, short- or long-term, depending on how much I use it in teaching. In the stacks are core samples from western softwoods and eastern hardwoods, as well as “cookies” (cross-sections) of a variety of species. Quite a number are samples from western trees that go back 200-400 years.

Jeff Witters
Olathe South High School

When I wrote “such birds” I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.

Knowing that I am not the greatest of birders, I asked my middle daughter (without promting) what I have been calling these birds, as we drove back by them the other day. She said “crows”. So it goes.

I will be more careful in the future.

You’ve got a scoop if you’ve been seeing ravens on the plaza–certainly there are corvids down there but if you’ve been seeing ravens you’ll have every bird watcher in KC down there trying to see them….

I’m really partial to Ravens–always have been but Heinrich’s work just solidified it.

BW

I will try to get inspired more frequently.

Otherwise, thanks for the book suggestion. I have read a few of his other books, but not the one you suggested.

In fact, the most recent book I have partially read of his is the “Mind of the Raven”, and while picking up my daughter from school near the plaza the past week or two there has been quite a congregation of such birds along brush creek. I have been hoping that some idea would come to mind providing a means for my students to study this unique and intelligent resource. I haven’t thought of anything yet…

Another resource that can serve as a model for how to ask some interesting “tree” research questions is Bernd Heinrich’s book: Trees in My Forest