The snowy slightly warmer winter days we've had recently provide the perfect weather to set out on foot or on cross-country skis to observe nature in her quietest season. The lack of leaves may seem to stand in the way of learning, but if thought about in another way, the leaves' absence opens up the tree to more study and observation. Without the leaves to distract the observer, so much can be learned about the entire tree. It's not impossible to identify trees in winter, although it can take more time and possibly a little bit of research. This can be seen in winter by observing the leaf scars on the twig, which indicate where the leaves fell off last fall.
Notable exceptions are maple, dogwood, ash and buckeye.
Be sure to note where the plant was seen. On a cross-country skiing trek last week near a wetland area, I saw a number of large, leafless shrubs with small catkins and tiny brown cones. The distinctive catkins and cones, along with the shrub's location in a wetland area, surrounded by pin oak and willow, gave this plant away as an alder. No other tree has such plump, rounded, bright-red buds in winter. The gray, downward arching branches help to identify this tree from afar.