Natural History Wanderings

Michael Frye reported on Yosemite Fall Foliage on his blog today. Here is an excerpt

Overall the color in Yosemite Valley looked great. Some big-leaf maples had lost their leaves, but most were vibrant yellow and near their peak. The cottonwoods produce the most variable and inconsistent autumn display of the deciduous trees in the valley, but it seems to be a good year for them, and a majority of them were yellow. The valley dogwoods were at least half green, so they won’t peak for another week or so, but some were quite colorful. The one valley deciduous tree species that seems to be having a poor year is the black oaks. About half of them have turned brown, while the other half have their usual golden-yellow autumn leaves and are near peak. It’s been a good year for the higher-elevation dogwoods, with many of them displaying vivid reds along highways 120 and 41. But they’re starting to lose their leaves, so they won’t last long.

See his full report and photos at A Beautiful Autumn Day in Yosemite – Michael Frye Photography