Fall Jack Pine understory

Huckleberries plants now with red leaves makes it real easy to also notice the blue to black fruit.

Huckleberries really show their numbers in this Jack Pine forest come fall, click on the photo to see the numerous berries.

Hucks and Matsutakes.

Here we see our largest Maritime woodpecker who climbs backwards down the tree trunk to get low enough to reach back for some berries. These plants are usually waist high on humans so this is the easiest way for them to pick yet they really stretch their necks to get it done.

This Pileated Woodpecker (click on my cybershot photo my friends) seems to be on the same visiting schedule as me as we met here last week in the evening. This one chooses to stay around 100 feet from me and circles around me for 10 minutes or so. You may have noticed there has been a clearcut on both sides of this 200 foot strip of Jack Pine so many of the fruiting plants, matsutake, birds and all the rest are dealing with the changes. ciao

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huckleberry grinn

No mushrooms in the mountains today on the forest floor. So moving from the vegetable to the fresh fruit section.

I noticed these huckleberry plants while gathering ripe low bush blueberries a month ago, so I stopped in for a look in this Jack pine area on the way home and the huckleberries are ready. I also chose to bring a few leaves to help in identification as the backside of the leaves are supposed to glitter when exposed to sunlight due to small yellow colored oil glands, I notice the sparkle though I’ll need a lens to see the yellow glands. I may also try a huckleberry leaf tea as well.

There appears to be 2 different types of huckleberries in the above and below photos, or they both may be Gaylussacia baccata, both fruits contain the crunchy small seeds which  informs the berry picker he is gathering something other than blueberries.

I have tons of low bush blueberry experience in both eating and picking beginning way back as a pre-schooler in the early 1960s. Huckleberries are new to me though, yet I can tell by tasting these berries this morning we are in for some frosty good huckleberry popsicles this afternoon. ciao