When we think of molting we immediately go to birds.   Yes it is the season that they are in bad feather and if you are a bird watcher you know what I mean.   They are still raising their young and that stress has taken its toll on them.   So, you will see them look like they just got out of bed, kind of frumpy.

Another species that molts are trees and the Pacific Northwest forests of Madrona trees.  I talked to some neighbors today and they were worried about their forest.  There is no need to be concerned since this is an annual process.   Courtesy of Wiki here is some basic info on them:

Arbutus menziesii (Pacific madrona, madrone or Arbutus) is a species of tree  native to the western coastal areas of North America, from British Columbia to California.

It is also known as the madroño, madroña, or bearberry. The name “strawberry tree” may also be found in relation to A. menziesii. In the United States, the name “madrone” is used south of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and Northern California and the name “madrona” is used north of the Siskiyou Mountains.

Today in my walk back up the trail I saw some good examples of their peeling bark.   The exposed new bark is slightly green under the reddish peel.   Chunks of paper like bark can be found on the ground or hung up in branches.

green below the red

Paper like bark on the ground

Madrona Molting it’s old skin

Kind of shabby looking?

Years of old bark on a deck