I started to write this about an hour ago as I was finishing a cup of Nantucket. But it was put on hold as I listened to the free concert out my window. The birds are exceptionally vocal, or should I say their volume is exceptionally loud. Well it's a sweet sound and it put me in a nice frame of mind. Combined with another cup of "joe" I might be able to type a decent report.
Hemlocks and laurel seem to grow very well together along the small streams I fish. Together they perform a valuable service to the brook trout that call these streams home. The hemlock grow big and provide necessary shade to keep the waters cool. Their root structure holds the soil from washing into the stream. When branches fall from them or when they fall they still provide cover for the brookie as well as food in the form of ants, and beetles which take up home in the decaying tree. The mountain laurel provides cover in the form of natural thick wall which at times you can't penetrate. Together they do a valuable service to wild trout and their streams.
A typical stream. Hemlock and laurel doing their thing.
A wild brook trout taken on a "Bomber" from the stream above.
Beautiful colors.
The hemlock and the laurel doing their part to keep these jewels with us.
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