Tree Appreciation Tuesday - Spared Oak

During the winter when the ground is saturated, a walk along made up paths are in order, and we have used the path leading from Wells Sports Centre towards Haybridge.  Now a new housing estate has been built, further paths were built through some fields making a short circular walk a possibility. 

Oak trees are fairly common in this area, both in the open in fields, and in mixed woodland, and there are a number of these scattered along old hedgerows.  In this area these seem to be about the same age, with extensive branching. This one caught my attention on a number of walks, and I am so pleased they were no felled at the time the space was laid out.

I like the way the bark on the main trunk has been closing up around an old side branch that has been decaying for a long time.  It was too muddy to walk around the tree to see if there are signs of the tree having completely covered over areas leaving gnarled patches along the main trunk.

This is another similar oak less than 100 metres away, but here covered with ivy and no doubt offering shelter to birds at night, during storms, or providing ideal nesting opportunities.