English Ivy way up a Catalpa Tree

I was out today at a local park with Lake Jacomo in it and I got this video clip of a Hawk of some kind
diving and getting maybe a fish out of the water. The video is only 48 seconds long. -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDHfJR-B5f0&feature=youtu.be
Maybe the bird was getting a cool dip in the water as it was around 99 this afternoon.
How about this Catalpa Tree with all this English Ivy growing up it?! - In the further away shot, that's all Ivy going way up it, (the darker green foliage). I've never seen Ivy take over like this yet the tree doing okay. Too bad the trunk is all covered up, it's a sizeable tree and would maybe do well in the state championship perhaps. It'd be hard to measure properly with all this Ivy on it I think, (the 3rd pic is the trunk of the tree). I bet it's okay looking in the Winter, it's an evergreen Catalpa Tree!
Will



This message was edited Sep 8, 2013 7:36 PM

The bird is an Osprey, they are fish-eating specialists.

Hard to tell for sure (needs microscopic examination to be certain) but it looks like it could be Atlantic Ivy Hedera hibernica.

Resin

Thanks Resin.
Those Ospreys were fun to watch, being in an un-airconditioned car wasn't, but watching them was! I only have video of the bird not photos like the tree. They were always diving.

The photos here aren't that big but maybe they can be seen better at normal size. Here they are at my Comcast webspace where they are much bigger, even bigger if you click the mouse on the photo when your there.

http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2319.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2321.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2323.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2324.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2326.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2328.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~metalglove/pwpimages/ivy/100_2330.JPG
Will

Yeah that tree looks pretty awesome. This is one of those things that looks good in a yard other than mine :)

Yeah, that's kinda a hideous site actually. It's almost like the tree is in the process of being strangled and snuffed out. I'm guessing whoever owns it thinks it's cool as heck. I'd never get that close in a residential yard but this was on Sunday and there was nobody there, it is a home made into a business a long time ago. Remember that show Mama's Family? That tree is in the same city that show was shot in - Raytown, Missouri..lol

That close eh? That's close. I can set my camera to macro and get closer but I don't know if that's that close, it's not a terribly high dollar camera. I put it in the plant id forum maybe that's why there's no takers. After seeing pics of Hedera Atlantica in images of a Bing search, I too would lean toward it. They show photos of it being for sale at nurseries in black pots like they're really something.
Thanks, Will

http://www.hannibal.net/article/20120111/NEWS/301119824

mo champ catalpa for comparison

That's not a very good photo of it to show size but it's bigger than the one there with the Ivy on it.
A 23.5' trunk is VERY large. I figured the state champ Northern Catalpa tree would have a huge trunk.
I've seen the state champ Bur Oak tree and it is 23.9' in diameter at the trunk and it is a very large tree, near national champion size. The difference between those 2 trunks is about 5". It's too bad that Hannibal Catalpa photo doesn't show the trunk's size better in that photo. Thanks for looking that up, sallyg, this tree isn't that big..lol
Here's my 10 year old photos of that Bur Oak tree. -
Will

That would be about seven feet in diameter- wider than my outstretched arm span. This is the biggest tree I've gotten cozy with lately- a sycamore with my DH next to it. He's six feet so his arm span is also.

This message was edited Sep 12, 2013 8:41 PM

I meant 23.9' in circumference, not diameter. I get the 2 mixed up and I really do know better..lol
That is a large Sycamore, they also get huge. That Bur Oak tree is on the Katy Trail which is a popular across state rails to trails bicycle trail. Anyway, my mom said they stopped at that Bur Oak tree and it took 15 people clasping hands to circle the tree!

I just want to throw in my 2 cents worth to say that ivy can definitely overtake and 'smother' a tree. Someone somewhere should do something. (That was kinda vague, eh?)