It’s funny how some of the trees on our six-acre woodlot feel like friends. I check in on them, enjoy their company, am entertained by them, and I worry about them. I’ve lost a couple of these friends in the seven years we’ve lived here. The largest cottonwood was hit by lightning. The hackberry whose misshapen trunk dipped down in a u-shape over the creek bed, toppled during a summer of heavy rains. One of these friends is a birch tree, a specimen tree planted near the house. It’s quite eye-catching, the white bark standing out in the landscape throughout the seasons. It’s also attention-grabbing in other ways. …

This Field Note was written by Joanna Willis. Would you be interested in writing one? Contact Allison De Jong, Field Notes editor, at adejong [at] montananaturalist [dot] org or 406.327.0405. Please visit the Field Notes website at the Montana Natural History Center for more information.