Fall Colours Done

Looking around the Bella Coola Valley this weekend it's apparent that there isn't much left for fall leaves on our two main fall colour trees which are the stands of black cottonwood (Populus tricocarpa) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera).   Both are pretty much done except for the odd straggler.  Of course the extensive stands of coastal red alder (Alnus rubra) which is a valuable tree for stabilizing soil, producing nitrogen, firewood and makes beautiful hardwood boards, doesn't go golden -- one day the leaves just go from green to fallen off - a sad thing because the coast would rival the Maritimes in colour if all the alder was to go golden.  About the only fall colours we could find, were introduced trees like the Lombardy poplars and the Hazelnut in this photo.

Today has proven me wrong about November again - a frost in the morning, then the rest of the day was high cloud, no wind and just a good November day for doing more things outdoors, yard chores, firewood, a walk, whatever you needed to do.  Grizzly