I went for my walk at lunch. Last year the streets under the white oaks were covered with crushed acorns. I didn't see a single one today. The reds and pin oaks have dropped just a few.
This last spring I noticed the lack of catkins (those wicker things oaks shed). Most years they are thick. This last spring there were next to none. This is likely the reason for the lack of acorns. No catkins, no acorns. I just don't know what causes the lack of catkins. And it rained a lot last spring so maybe that kept the oaks from being pollinated well.
Maybe a late frost? Frost often occurs very spottily (yup, that’s a real word) depending on wind, sun exposure etc. We’re actually under a frost warning tonight up here even though the temp is supposed to be over 40. I suspect too that sometimes trees just take a year off from fruit or nut production for reasons unknown. My fruit trees certainly do sometimes.
As I noted on another thread on the subject, yesterday I was on the local WMA, and the new, very extensive food plots showed no use I could detect, but one lone Burr Oak’s crop had been almost totally scarfed up, and it’s located right on the edge of one of the plots. They must be really zeroed in on the “aykerns”.
