Oh no! It's spreading! The drinking and posting thing. just joking, but, Johnd your post is a bit strange sounding, i am not judging you, I have made many an assanine post on here while under the influence. One recently directed at Ken. I cringed when i read it sober. I see you said it is tongue in cheek though. Maybe you were poking fun at me, but maybe not. I am going to try to not be an ass on this forum, I think that would be best no matter what. But anyhoo, I thi nk those buds are "oaklike" and not like any Beech I have ever seen.

The Goatweed Leafwing looks like the right shape and color, but I can't find any reference to them living this far up the east coast, but they are found in Virginia and that's just a couple hours away. Kind of a stretch though but it had been an exceptionally mild winter. The description of their flight pattern matches too. I had thought maybe Viceroy or Mourning Cloak too but they don't seem quite right. The wings look more curved than what I saw but then again it happened so fast. Although they are more than welcome to come to my yard and prove me wrong! I saw it again in my neighbor's yard and just could not get to my camera in time. So frustrating! The color was the same, red like a maple leaf in autumn. Very pretty. I'll just keep stalking the yard!!!

Plants well established in the ground - like yours - seldom ever need fertilizing. They get what they need from the soil. Only if you see some obvious signs of nutrient deficiency - off color or yellowed foliage, very slow or stunted growth - would you need to fertilize and then only after a soil test would tell you what was missing. IF you need to fertilize, fall is not the time to do so - early spring as the plants are pushing new growth is a much better time. Late season fertilizing can produce lush growth that is unable to harden off properly before winter, leading to cold damage. It is not possible to tell you when or how long to water. The need to provide irrigation is dependent on too many variables to be specific. The recommendation is long and slow watering infrequently, but you will need to test soil conditions and pay attention to the weather to determine when that might be appropriate. I live in a recurring summer drought area and few established landscape plants here will require supplemental watering even during our dry summers.......it just depends on the plant and the soil conditions. Newly planted trees and shrubs are a different set of circumstances. And IME, once the Alberta spruce has started to decline, they are difficult to recover a dense and lush growth. Lack of needle growth in specific areas generally signals some branch dieback, perhaps from insects (the mites) or merely from excessive shading or lack of air circulation. Dead stems will not regenerate healthy foliage.

whether or not it is a useful tree .. depends on your yard size.. and your garden ... and perhaps.. where you are ... if in fact.. the seed shot out of a birds butt ... that might mean its a messy tree ... and that it has the potential to be a PIA ... i have serotina all over my 5 acres ... the flowers smell like dirty gym socks .. and the bigger the tree gets.. the bigger the stink ... the fruit is useless in that the pit is 95% of the cherry .. and all its good for.. is for birds to eat and spread for a half mile around the house ... out here in the country.. the birds have plenty to eat ... i really dont see why they need these trees ... unfortunately.. i have a dozen 60 footers.. and there is nothing i can do about it ... except encourage the hate .. lol if i were on a small suburban yard ... i would be very leery about encouraging it ... its not all that expensive to buy a good heirloom tree for that purpose ... ken