Brettski, you said you have a long wooded diveway. Here's a pic of my driveway and pond this weekend. How about a picture of your terrain? Anybody else got any good fall pond pics?

From last fall.

a couple of falls ago

bz,
It's still a little early for good color in my neck of the woods, but that won't make much diff. on our parcel. The predominant species are Hickory, Walnut, and Cherry. They don't provide much color. We do have a decent amount of Ash for gold/yellow, but only one or two at the pondsite and few along the driveway. There is a sugar maple grove (about 1/2 ac), but it's buried in the woods. Lastly, and I am not partial to these trees, about 1/4 of the pondsite perimeter is largely populated with Black Locust. Again, no color. In fact, they are within the wetland area that will flood into the timber, hopefully killing a bunch of 'em (bitter sweet).
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(edit; btw, beautiful color in the pics above...I'm jealous )

Brettski :

We get some of our best colors from hickory (bright yellow) , locust and sweet gum (red ,yellow and orange). In my first pic the bright yellow on the right side is a hickory. There is a black locust by my drive (neighbors yard) that is the single most colorful tree I have ever seen. Some of our oaks have some color but most are not so.

Ewest,
I was so excited last year, after we finished the entrance drive and clearing the pondsite, to see what the fall colors would look like. I was disappointed.
My hickories are Shagbark Hickory. The leaves turn slightly, but no show-stopper. The yellow that you noted in your Hick-pic is the yellow we get from the Ash trees. I have one big ol' lonely Ash directly behind the dam that is the color focus...past that, not much more.
The Black Locust offer virtually nothing.
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(edit)
OK, I am toooo picky about color. I had to google shagbark hickory fall color to make sure I'm not color blind. Yes, the leaves do turn a rich, mottled yellow color, but it's not the bright colors that I guess I hoped for.

Brettski :

After your last post I did some checking on black locust. I am not so sure the tree next to my drive is one. Rain stopped me from looking last night , but I think the neighbor's id of it as one may be in error.

Great pics guys. Don't the ponds look great in the fall. Neat pond Ewest and Looptech! Brettski, got any orange paint?

Time for another trip to Menard's, Brettski.

Fall colors started on my place in late July, Oh sorry I forgot that was the draught killing my trees. My bad

Here are a few from today:

Fall time is fun except for the tree droppings





Reflections in the pond and floating Island - Looking real natural now:

Beautiful place Eric.

Thanks! Its nice and its great having the pond 100 ft from back door!!

It is Fall and time for the mist deamons and fall colors.







I still don't know how to use this camera well.

I don't believe you.

I went looking for "Fall Colors" for photo opportunities today. There were only two, green (Hedgeapple) and bald (Walnut).

Ewest you have a very good eye for the camera. or was that second pic a fluke? LOL Its very good and could be entered into a photo contest.

Theo admits:
....wanna borrow some spray paint?

An update with a couple of this years pics.

Ever since Burgermeister and Eric pointed out the ironic similarity of my project to a pond project on the red planet, I've noticed color display issues with my Dell monitor here at the house. The pics on this tube monitor don't "snap" with color definition. When I bring them up on the new LCD monitor at work, wow...what a diff. My computer geeky pal from work says it will have alot to do with the "card" I'm using and that adjusting the monitor might not make a diff. For instance, the red planet photos looked just fine on this home monitor, but Mars-esque on the LCD at work.
I just took these pics today. All my pics have been coming off a 2 Megapix Argus (kinda cheapie). When I took these pics, they popped in person, but are not so now that I post 'em. I gotta check 'em when I get to work. Either way, this is about the best Fall color I could get...and we just entered peak.
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On the 600 ft entry thru the meadow as the drive enters the block of timber (kinda overcast)

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after entering the timber, following the last 1/4 mi of driveway (bright & sunny)

Wow Ewest, beautiful tress & pond. Interesting I don't see any spanish moss? Hey Brettski, looks great! I appreciate seeing some pictures. After hearing about your place I was really interested in some pics away from the pond to get a feel for the lay of the land a little better. Thanks. That's an awesome driveway. The longer the better in my opinion.

bz the spanish moss is not around the upland lakes but there is plenty at the oxbow lakes. I will see if I can find a pic.

I submit this as the "Gloomiest Fall Colors" picture. Understand I brightened it up considerably after taking it. This is NOT one of the 90 days a year we get sunshine.

Here are 2 pics via Bob of Savannah Dhu NY.

Dang! Bob's a strong competitor! Is that your property? Nysch pics, Bob. Tell us about those rail fence posts. What are they made outta? Is that a suspension bridge in pic #2?

That is one of Bob's clients. See this for a nature preserve.

Savannah Dhu.

http://www.savannahdhu.com/home/index.php

Whoa! Kinda takes world class to a new level. Thanks, Ewest...thanks, Bob.

All I can say is ... WOW!

I couldn't afford to be a maid there much less be able to stay there and enjoy the beauty of it all. Its nice to know there are places like that tho.

A color photo of fall in Minnesota :rolleyes:

If I remember correctly, it looks a lot like Spring.

Theo, are you OK???

You actually wrote out "If I remember correctly," instead of IIRC.

Did you hit yourself in the head with a post-driver sledge hammer again??

Wow! Am I embarrassed!

No new concussion, just a little short on sleep. My wife had unexpected hernia surgery last week and is on restricted activity for about a month (which agrees with the conventional wisdom, from my experience). I get to take care of the critters twice a day and have been working 5am to 8pm instead of 8am to 5 pm. In my humble opinion, I can handle it. On the other hand, it's not for everyone - your mileage may vary.

Laughing out loud yet? :p

I'm really sorry to hear about your better half. Lord knows she has enough to deal with being married to you!!!

No doubt she is a trooper though.

This could be an opportune time to plant the idea of using the road-kill/maggot system in your pond.

(posted by Theo)"My wife had unexpected hernia surgery last week" Sorry to hear that, Hope she is doing well.


Here are some pics of my part of the woods.
This first one is looking down the front of my place from my neighbors drive.




This one is of the little pond in front of my house, its the one with all the Bullheads in it.

Same pond different angle.


This one is the other pond, not as much color around it but I thought the pic came out cool.


And just for some variety, here is one of my neighbors horses, looking toward my place.

Great vistas, N-W-W's....really nice. Love the rolling hills and all the trees.

Dwight, I didn't get any of that snow in central MN. I'm glad. Looks too much like winter. If you're in southern MN you probably get more snow than I do.

Theo Gallus -
You have a good memory, though it a fall photo, not a recycled spring one!

bz - Your turn is on the horizon!

dittos Theo...

I could live there NWW! nice pics. if i took a pic of our fall colors on property, all you'd get is gold (dead) grass, live oaks and pines....one thing i miss about the east coast..

Nebraska has no fall colors. We are the only state in the entire union that has a national forest that is entirely planted by hand.

I'm not kidding.

Thanks guys... I think this is the best time of the year, it just doesn't last long enough, and I hate to think of whats coming. We have a place called Glade Top Trail (Gov. Property). We can see it from our front door. Its a senic drive and has some of the greatest views with the fall colors. If I can find some of the pics I will post them if you all are interested.

"It's not that the colors aren't there, it's just imagination they lack"

-My Little Town, Simon and Garfunkel

NWW:

Bring 'em on.

I think this is one of the threads that's most important later on, like being able to look at sunshiney pictures in February or at cold, frozen ponds in August.

Ok you asked for it LOL

Along the drive.



Looking toward Arkansas











Some I lightened a little, I think I have others too I will have to look.


Here is one looking off my front deck, the hills you see in the background is Glade Top.

Couple of pics from our place

show off....

awesome scenary......

quote:
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Originally posted by HeyNow^:
Couple of pics from our place................
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You got me beat, Very Pretty!

Thanks. It is amazing how the early morning sunrise casts such a colorful light on the leaves.

Heynow..awesome. I love the red, white and blue variety. I assume it is a perennial?
NWW, yours is great looking, too. I really like the Ozarks in fall.

i believe you, i've driven through on hwy 80 many times in my life......kiddin aside, i always liked the western side where those bluffs are.....

hey i can play this fall color game too...watch.....



sorry......i couldnt resist.

I took this over a month ago, no fall colors here, lots of swamp donkeys though.

Wood - You are now so far north it is a wonder that trees even grow there.

I can't help myself..here are some more from Glade Top, taken yesterday.

And of course who can resist a fall sunset?

Wow!

Awesome, Chris! Where in Mo. are you? Near Ar? What reservoir is nearest? We went thru a few yrs. ago in late Oct. It was beautiful, but there was a very windy storm the week before and it blew off lots of leaves.

NWW,

Beautiful, simply beautiful...and reminds me of my grandparents place in the Ozarks....complete with fire lookout towers.

Burgermeister, yep I'm near Arkansas. Just 30 miles down the road to the line. I'm in the SW of the state just north of Branson and east of Springfield. I think this year has been the best for all the colors, they are usually gone by now as you said, because of the wind. This will probably be the last of them as we have a rain storm coming in tonight and lots of wind today.

Meadowlark, yep wouldn't be the Ozarks without the fire towers LOL. However they don't use many of them any more, and some they had where you could climb up to the top and look out, but they have stopped that too. I guess coz of all the vandals. Some people ruin it for all of us.

Chris,
My folks used to have a vacation home on Bull Shoals lake, just outside of Peel, Ark. I think we were pretty near to your neck of the woods, eh? It is, indeed, awesome country. It is also many cultures removed from the city life that we were used to...but...we managed to adapt. The biggest issue we had to deal with was timing our 15 minute drive to catch the ferry that crosses the water to the "wet county" on the other side. Precision timing offered bounteous, refreshing reward.

Brettski, Yep you were very close to my neck of the woods and I have crossed on the Toad Suck (actual name of a town in Ark.) Ferry or Browns Ferry many times.
Was the Ferry near Protem Mo.?
Burger we have many Lakes near by, Bull Shoals,Tannycomo and Table Rock and North Fork is one in Ark. We are within an hour of any of them.

In these pics you can see the Boston Mountains in Ark.






Here are a few more of Glade Top.

Yep, Protem was a nearby town. The ferry was on Hwy 125. We kept our little boat at the 125 boat dock. Our place was on a small cove in a land subdivision called Wood's Cove. At the time, there were only a couple of homes right on the water. That was back in the 70's. I'll bet it's pretty populated by now.
HA!...right on the water. More like 100 feet back most of the time to stay off the government buffer, then another 100 feet to the house. That entire White River System is awesome.

Brettski, yes it is and yup thats the same Ferry. They used to have 2 but they have shut one down, the one on 125 is the last of its breed. Yeah I would imagine that if you were there today you would see a different world from the 70's. I started coming to the Ozarks back then and moved here in "82" It has changed a lot since then esp. Branson. Its like going to Las Vegas now all concrete and billboards.

NWW,

Because my grandparents lived nearby, I knew Branson before it became a tourist area. Silver Dollar City consisted only of the main square and the cave was the main attraction. The change is really incredible.

I had the good fortune to be one of the earliest people to fish Table Rock Lake. It was an incredible fishing lake back then. We used a new lure that many said would never catch LMB. It was called a plastic worm.

I try to get back to the Norfork and White rivers for trout fishing a couple of times a year and consider every trip a blessing. You are fortunate to live in such a great area.

A interstate football matchup between Toad Suck and Mule Jail might provide some real Fall color.

ML, was it a grape(purple) worm with multiple hooks and fishing line running thru it...and, oh yea, a propeller on the nose? Maybe you're too young to remember that one.

BM, that almost sounds like a plow jockey.

Theo -- man you don't want to be anywhere near Mule Jail on Halloween. That place is a true swamp with all the spooky things that go with it. Owls , cats , gators , snakes , spiders , ghosts of soldiers and mules past , quicksand, old creepy trees with Spanish moss , swamp gas fires , wolf like dogs ,gator gar ,bowfin ,eels , giant snapping turtles , leeches , bats -- well you get the idea.

Sunil, I looked up the 'plow jockey' and it does look similar to the old ones. Didn't know they still made worms with several hooks and line. The original types had a prop in front with a bead on either side. Killer in a pond.

Close, very close....it was a red worm but everything else you said was right on the money....even had some beads just behind the prop. We would take off those beads and the prop and fishing line and re-rig it to what is now called "Texas" style. Man, those Table Rock bass had never seen such a lure and we just tore them up day after day.

Now THAT would be interesting!! Bubba could be the Ref. LMAO
No joke tho, the last time I was on the Ferry the guy running it was named Bubba, and he represented it well. LOL

The Ferry

Man oh man, I made that trip quite a number of times, the trunk loaded with Coors. We would pop open #1 as soon as we got onto the ferry. I remember the old tug with the nose of the bow attached to a 180 degree hinge on an arm projecting from the center of the ferryboat deck. They would flip the boat 180 degrees after each pass to push it back to the other side. Jeesh, the memories. I'm gonna check my gym shoes on the porch to make sure there ain't no scorpions hidin'.

Those ferry pics (minus the paint , metal and power) remind me of the following to scenes wrt the Ark. River and its tributaries.

1 . Eastwood as Josey Wales and the Missouri boat ride scene "pull Luminal pull" and



Memorable Quotes from
The Outlaw Josey Wales

Jamie: [Josey and Jamie are waiting for the Redlegs to cross the river] They comin'.
[Josie pulls a Sharp's rifle with a early telescopic sight on it from his horse]

Carpetbagger: Do you really think you can shoot all those men down before they shoot you? No, no, Mr. Josey Wales; there is such a thing in this country called justice!

Josey Wales: Well, Mr. Carpetbagger. We got somethin' in this territory called the Missouri boat ride.
[shoots the rope hauling the ferry across the river]


2. The Duke as Rooster Cogburn and the run away nitro ferry .

FAQ about the Hwy 125 Peel Ferry
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...even the Toad Suck Ferry gets honorable mention. (that just doesn't sound right)

"In my line of work, you got to be able to sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, or Dixie, equally well, depending on present company that is."

How about being able to sing the lyrics to "Dixie" to the tune of "Burnin' Down the House" by the Talking Heads?

Well, It was the Toad Suck Ferry when I was there, I have been there since this pic was taken.

Theo, I would like to hear your version of Dixie LOL

WOW, neat pics ewest & shorty.

...yeah, that dang Shorty and his ultralight. He's probably the one transplanting fish eggs.

Brettski, shhhhhhh.........

Bruce might get suspicious about the GSF air express.

Brettski, Burger, and other Cypress fans,


Here is a picture of the front yard Cypress that was shown earlier in the year in a discussion of good pond trees. We haven't had much cool weather to speak of yet, but the Cypress is starting to turn. Hope you can see the colors.

couple questions and statements.....

ewest, would that be your pond on the cover of PB this issue?

Shorty, that is breathtaking stuff....sorry i dont remember....is yer pond/lake what, about 6 acres?

ML...is that a Bald Cypress (Gen. Taxodium)?

I planted a bald cypress, pond cypress, and montezuma cypress below my dam in the creekbed floodplain here many years ago but the deer knocked down the protective fencing and killed em....i'm gonna try a again one of these years.....nice tree.

Here is a soon to be pond!

D.I.E.D. asks:
...if it is, I'm movin' to Mississippi, cuttin' off the soles of my shoes, sittin' in the limb of a tree and learnin' to play the flute.
-
-
...it is awesome, ain't it? I call it "country, inspirational".
-
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...ML promised me a pic of this B Cypress specimen from a thread this last Winter. IIRC, there are some hard-to-believe growth spec's associated.

D.I.E.D. that is a great pic on the PB cover this time but its not any of our ponds. You can tell because there are no big trees in the cover pic.

Jimmy welcome to the PB forum. That is good looking Iowa dirt in the pond bottom.

Dave,

Yes, its a Bald Cypress...straight from the "free tree" program of the National Arbor Society. I love Cypress and would encourage you to try again...but they require a lot of water and do not fair well with any periods of water absence. The front yard tree had outstanding growth largely because of the constant availability of water.

D.I.E.D - The pond is 9.9 surface acres when at full pool, the dam is 220 yards long.

Sorry ewest and thanks ML.

Shorty, i never thought flatland could be so beautiful. The stuff of which dreams are made....excuse me while I wipe off my dribble.

Our leaves did not really change to much color this year....just sort of fell off the trees. The fire bushes in this pic changed though. Those things are beautiful!

Very Pretty Illinois Longhorn. What part of Central Ill. are you? I have a nephew in Carbondale and a sister in Morton.

Beauty, IL LH...absolutely love the stone bridge. Tell us a little more about that focal point. Your handywork?

Brettski here is the tree I posted about earlier in this thread. About 50% of its leaves are off in this pic.

Just about ten miles south of Morton...located in Hopedale Illinois. The bridge was built in 1799 although it is dated 1800. The pond in its inception was actually a holding marsh...the water was used to power the steam locomotives which crossed directly over the top of the bridge.

This is my first attempt at posting photos. The best I could do was to put up links. I hope that is OK. These are three views of the pond and fall colors.
Lou

web page

web page web page

Lou WOW !!! Nice pond.

Thanks, Eric. I will miss it, but will have many wonderful memories. As much as I love the colors in fall and spring, I would hate not to have enjoyed the black water and skeletal trees of a dark winter day or the pea-soup green of a full bloom in summer.

I appreciated the photos of your pond, as well. I recall many beautiful fall days on the water around Vicksburg and Port Gibson.
Lou

Lou,
That is simply gorgeous, it looks like an extremely peaceful place. Tranquil is probably a better description. Man, one could sit on the bank and ponder ones life away without the slightest bit of guilt or remorse.

Yep, please allow me a special moment of awe, also. It's easy to see numerous special times of reflection and solitude as the Master's mind wanders to walk the banks with Mudcat Joe. I can see ol' Lou settin' on a fallen tree as the story flows out of his pen to paper. I'll bet it's as good as it gets, eh? You are a blessed man, Sir Heronblu.

IL LH...
That is a wonderful story; great history! How did this jewel come to be your's? Can you expand a little on the story? Some details on the property and the RR?
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Ewest,
Is that the tree that you were fairly sure was a Hickory? Did you verify it's genus?

Brettski

I am a member of the town council and the pond actually belongs to the community. I am the one that is responsible for the parks and license. Being an avid fisherman all of my life I am more than glad to take this role. I will have to get back with you on what RR used the tracks. The tracks have since been ripped up and are long gone. I remeber as a small child seeing the old water tank sitting between the track and at that time the swamp. Our pond never really had any depth until approx. twenty years ago when it was drained and dug out. The whole project only cost $1000.00 because it was all donated. However with the watershed being primarly farmland and no added silt pond.....we have lost over half of that depth. Right now the pond is full and it is seven foot deep. I am hopeful that I can get some sort of fundraiser going to drain it next winter and dig it out.....and add the silt basin.

Yep. And the screened back porch on the house is my retreat in warm weather. Many an hour of what I like to think of as "REM brainstorming" has been spent in an easy chair facing the pond and mountain. It is also at such times that Mudcat Joe is most likely to pay me a visit and spin me a yarn.
Lou

According to my neighbor black locust.

I ain't saying much on this thread by I'm really enjoying all the pictures. There's nothing like seeing what all these ponds you guys talk about really look like. Great!

Here is another pic from the end of our pond....we have a nice area here, I just want to add some kind of hybrid plant growth for the fish.

Ill. LH I have been to Hopedale, however it has been years ago. Nice place and pretty pond.

Lou, that is some place you've got there. Literally a dream for most of us.

...got a little inspiration to revive this thread
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My brother's pond waaaay up in da U.P.
-

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Greg was my inspiration to build a pond. This gem is about 3 acres; he stocks it put/take with small amounts of trout. He says he gets more enjoyment watching eagles and ospreys snagging the fish from the water than he does catching and eatin' 'em. He is pretty low-tech on the computer thing, so he snayl-mayl'd me the 8 x 10 photo and I scanned it.

We have virtually no maples at the pond perimeter, so we rely on the ashes and hickories for what mottled colors we are blessed with during fall. I have to take advantage of the sun angle to get the best return.

Couple pictures for me -

Our water is LOW!





Lane above the pond:


FH

I thought everyone would enjoy this beautiful view taken from inside my "outhouse" at the pond this morning. Life just doesn't get any better than this!!

Except for the smell!

nice shot b'ski.

i'm rusty on my eastern trees....not an oak...maybe a maple? ......help me out a little.

It's definitely maple. I was told that it is sugar maple.
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When we first purchased the property, I brought in a tree expert from the local lumber company to walk the forest, particularly the proposed pond zone, and tell me if there's any logging value. He was a real nice guy; graduated from Ohio State majoring in forestry. We spent 3 hours hiking thru the woods while he tried to teach me forestry -101. During our tour, he noted that we didn't have alot of maples. Then we hit papa maple. He stopped on the trail and looked out into the forest and started talking about natural succession. He pointed out the collection of smaller maples all surrounding this one big specimen. This maple grove is about 1/2 acre or so. He surmises that 30 or so years ago, this entire area was clear cut for pasture and they left papa maple as shade for the cows. He smiles and notes that these are all it's offspring.

i kept waiting for treebeard to pop out.

have you tapped it yet? i dont know if you recall, but i recently posted a recipe requiring pure maple syrup for the fish fillets you will soon be having

When I was a kid, we tapped a bunch of trees in the Nicolet Natl forest in nordern Wisconsin. We found an old bathtub at the dump, cleaned it out, and propped it up over a wood fire outside my friend's cabin. We musta got about 30 gallons of sap and simmered it for days over that fire. It yielded about 2 gallons of the sweetest, sugary-est maple syrup you could ever hope to rot your teeth.
....I doubt that I'll be going thru that again, thank you

If you stare long enough at this beech tree, you will see a 500-X microscopic view of a mite.

Fall Colors! Bah Humbug!

My colors have all fallen and now they expect to be picked up.

Fall In East Texas

Absolutely beautiful. But, it probably won't be long before you'd like to have my tornado blower, my tractor loader, and big leaf sucker-upper vacuum dump-trailer.

Cat, they call them leaves 'cause you can leaves them alone.

I have some fall pics, but none are by open water. I did notice a pic I did today has a glimpse of water, so I'll put that one here. Can see a neighbor's pond in the distance.

I'm a tadbit late for this game, since most of the leaves have fell, but here is the last splash of color before the gloomy winter encloses me in its bitter coldness.

hybrid willow, my favorite tree turning yellow. Oh, and in the woods above this pond is where I'm building all the vernal ponds. I think there will be 20 tiny ponds above this one once I'm done. I'm on number 8.

You guys got any fall color pics. Thought I would revive this thread. NWW what happened to your pics?

Anyone recognize this first pic. besides me ? If so where is it?

Just a wild guess on my part, oh, and from the November/December 2009 issue of Pond Boss, Upstate New York, October 12, 2005.

Bing

Would #2 and #3 happen to be at your place, ewest?

Very beautiful. No fall colors, I just wait till dark, go outside with my leaf blower, blow all the rotting leaves from the curbs back onto peoples lawns to keep them from going into the storm drains. I have 4 catch basins where my cord can reach. My arm is shaking, that's how long it took tonight. Yesterday, all day, in the water with hip waders getting the leaves out of the lake and the storm drain inlet. This is my life.

This is from crawling the creeks, watching the throuts spawn.
Imposible to get a pic of thr fish itself but the colors of fall
you can get a glimse off

paul

I got this a couple of years ago when we had a red sunset.

Bing you got it. Savannah Dhu NY.

Yep Theo the bottom 2 are here.

Stunning, Eric. What type of trees are making the biggest splash there? Maples? Oaks?

I am a sucker for your New England shots, AP. Thanks...that's perfect.

The colors are about over here in northern VA. The peak was last week and they were pretty this year!

Pics! Pics!

Lots of different types here TJ. Not like New England (Maple) or Mountain West (Aspen) where there are 1 or 2 dominante color species.

Here you can have good color from - oaks (red , orange , yellow , brown) , Hickory ( bright yellow) , Gum ( red , yellow , orange) , Ginkgo ( brilliant red , yellow and orange) , Dogwood ( reds) , poplar (yellow) , maples (typical colors) and a host of others as well.

Here are 2 :

What a palate - incredible setting for your ponds. Around rivers in NE we have some variation - but out on the prairie we're stuck with Red Cedars, Cottonwoods, an occassional Ash or Elm. I love Cottonwoods, but all our foliage is mainly muted yellows. One bonus I have out at the ponds is Sumac - brilliant reds emerge every Fall.

Eric, dont forget the tallows. their one and only redeeming value.

That's for sure.

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We have bright red Sumac as well.