Fungus Time

Photos from today's walk.

Mushrooms everywhere.

I will not begin to try to identify them.

Master Mushroom gatherer of the woods. A Douglas Squirrel will gather, dry and store mushrooms. They get pretty defensive of their favorite patches.

A Gentle Walk to Work Out the Kinks

A little four mile ramble to get the muscles and joints recovered from yesterdays extra long hike. I got a late start after a long morning of noodling with my pictures and writing the last entry. I decided to just go up the road a ways to the Watershed Park. I wrote about this park on Christmas Day 2009.


I decided to take both of my cameras today and just play around with pictures. I walked the length of the park to the far corner where I knew there was a large pond. Near the entrance of the park there is a small pond and I was happy to get this shot of a Pond Lily.

I found a feather I believe is a filoplume from a Great Blue Heron.

Folks bring their horses to this park. I recognize this "cute look" a mile off.

The woods were strangely quite. No bird song, not many people about.

Mr Banana was heading eastbound on my trip in. Coming out of the trails I swear I encountered him heading west.

I like how someone placed this lost hat on a signpost. Perhaps its owner will return. That is a little fishing fly stuck in by the tie cord.

I found a lot of Trailing Blackberry, our true native blackberry. They are so small and so hard to harvest in bulk.

By the time I got out to the far pond the sun was trying to break through the clouds. It was odd for the clouds were casting an odd pinkish glow. I am pretty pleased with this photo of the sun reflection in the pond water and the shadow of a Vine Maple going across the surface. The sky color is due to forest fires in the Interior BC. The air flow from their is reported to be causing this effect and from the weather satelites the whole of interior Puget Sound is covered in this haze. Should be a great sunset!

Lovely local woods.

Thanks to all my regular readers for the nice comments!!!

To my OLDER sister who chooses to make comments in private

ALL snakes are beautiful in my eyes, so poop on you!

and the comment about the skunk cabbage... flimsy excuse, back then I wasn't a nature nut

:-p

Happy Christmas

Such a beautiful chilly blue day calls out for a walk.

Exactly one year ago I was working hard at making a double batch of Ratatouille. Today I am at it again, but on this day it was well worth getting out for a walk while the eggplant salts out.

Last year was a different story with the only option was to stay inside rather than slogging about. Little did I know when I took the photo above that it would continue to be a problem all day and I went NO WHERE that day.

And ate Ratatouille for a week.

Today, I went over to the Watershed for a quick walk. It was still, blue and quite frosty.

The trail out to the little pond is seldom used, as evidenced by the moss covered walkway.,

I wanted to get some pictures of the frozen water and happily there was some nice contrast close to the viewing platform.

a white patch caught my eye while I wandered through the woods. At first I thought it was a bit of garbage but upon close examination I see that it is frost formed into frozen threads. I have never seen anything like this and it was very odd as there was only two patches. They were springing from downed tree limbs. We are not children of the ice so I posted photos to "ID Please" on Flickr to see if anyone could explain this interesting sight. I am thinking it is soft rime but we have such little experience of frozen environments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_flowers

A regular on Flickr pointed me to the id of "Frost Flowers" In viewing the Wiki page and seeing some of the other photos, I agree with him. The rising sap on broken limbs pushes moisture out and it freezes in a linear fashion.

The woods were pretty quiet. I found one feeding guild of nuthatch and chickadees and a very quiet Hairy woodpecker. A few early morning joggers were about, as usual.

I thought this trail fence made a pretty picture.

The Ratatouille is done. I suspect there will be left-overs.

Happy Christmas

Forest Floor Ramble

Today was one of those days that I really needed to stick close to home and get fiddly bits done. I stopped by Redmond Watershed Park again. It is handy on my way back from the barn and early in the morning you can feel like you almost have the whole place to yourself. I am not a fan of graffiti but the note on newly placed bench, deep in the woods seems a bit more tolerable than most. The nice bench, made from logs, was welcoming, but I had places to be.

Usually I am looking up and out, but today there were so many things to notice on the forest floor. Right now mushrooms are everywhere. I have almost zero clue as to what mushrooms are what , but I certainly enjoy seeing and noticing their many colors, shapes and how they fit in the habitat. So many were pushing up through leaf and ferns. The edges on many trails were lined with them.

This one almost looks like Chanterelle, I believe it is Woody Chanterelle, but I am not confident enough and consider the cost in the store a reasonable price to pay for safety, at least for now.

These reminded me of marzipan mushrooms, but I guarantee you, that is NOT chocolate filling. It was soft and wet...but not chocolate

It is easy to see where some illustrators and animators get their ideas, when it comes to mushrooms

Fungi play an important role in forest ecology. Their hyphae (underground structures) break down deadwood, recycling the nutrients. They also serve a helper role in forest metabolism and many conifer trees cannot exist without mycorrhizae interface in their root systems. Of course many animals, from the smallest bugs to large hikers eat the mushroom. It is a pretty big industry and wild mushroom turf wars are known in Oregon.

Not everything worth noting now is on the ground. Year round it is fern paradise. I particularly like Licorice Fern. They often grow from moss on tree trunks and their rhizomes, when chewed, do taste like anise / licorice. They were used for cough and sore throat.

This wasp nest caught my eye, I almost waved it off as another mushroom

The sun finally broke an hour into my walk and it adds great dimension to our woods. This was a lucky find. I would not have been able to make the capture without the help of sunlight.

Elegant mosses and Sword fern

This Big Leaf Maple leaf looks like it fell right out of 1969. Pretty groovy, isn't it?

And this mushroom...I suspect some might think it pretty groovy too...

I'm not going to try it. You try it!

Lets get Mikey.

I spotted this bug and had fun sneaking in on it while it had a snack. It was not until I got home and got it in to the computer that he had a bug buddy on the upper deck. So many bugs and little critters nosh on these mushrooms that it will not be long before many of them and chewed to bits. The Douglas Squirrels are hanging theirs to dry and all over, pasta and omelette's are on the dinner menu of knowledgeable foragers.

My little ramble turned into 3 1/2 hours and 5+ miles.

Still got everything done

Welcome Fall

I came across this article in the Seattle Times this morning and thought I would pass it on. I visited Lincoln county during my Labor Day Rock and Road trip. Who knows, perhaps one of the wheat farms I passed through is part of this article.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009909525_localflour21.html

I think it is a wonderful concept and certainly it brings the farmers a bit more profit.

But simply posting an interesting article seems a bit dull. One of my "fans" noted the absence of a "meandering post" this weekend. I was on call and running about with weekend chores. I just could not get myself away into the woods.

But ahhh tonight.. how better to salute the beginning of Fall than with a quick walk in the woods. Balmy weather is so typical for Puget Sound in late September. Our first day of Fall will prove to be a blazing hot time with forecast daytime in the middle 80's. It seems to easily cool off over night. Simply does not get better.

I stopped by Redmond Watershed Park on my way to the barn and was greeted by what is a subtle sign of the progression of the seasons. Just a few months ago it stayed light until nearly 10 PM now, not so much.

The woods already felt cool and dark. I could find many subtle signs that the Fall is here. Everywhere mushrooms are showing up. Douglas Squirrels will soon be harvesting and hanging them in trees. I know there can be some great finds for human consumption but I have never been brave enough to learn anything but the most obvious of the safe mushrooms.

Bushes set berries and they are usually gobbled up by birds. In the Fall it is not unusual to find flocks of drunk Robins hanging about in (and from) trees from overeating fermented fruit. Ash and Madrone are particularly popular. I was thrilled to find these berries. I have never seen our native Orange Honeysuckle , Lonicera ciliosa in fruit. Usually the plants are growing up in trees, so challenging to spot. The flowers are eagerly eaten by birds and small mammals. They will pull off the tube flower and eat the base where the sweet nectar is collected. This honeysuckle plant was right at eye level.



There were Nootka Rose, Rosa nutkana still blooming in a few places. Such a wonderful deep scent. They have large hips (which is perhaps why I like them) and these will serve up tasty eating for many birds and mammals through the winter.



Trees deep in the woods are not changing their colors yet. You can see some yellowing and browning up on some of the larger trees like Big-leaf Maple and Black Cottonwood, but the lovely Vine Maples are still bright green. I am seeing random small trees along roadsides starting to change. Those trees are exposed to harsher conditions. In the deeper woods the change is slow. During those wonderful blue days of late October and early November coming across a graceful Vine Maple surrounded by conifer trees can make you forget about the Sugar Maples of New England.

The fat round leaves of the Vine Maple are easy to remember. Their samaras have wings that are almost straight across.

Yes samara is the technical term, but most people look at me blankly when I use the term. Whirley Birds ... better?

I was driving home from the barn and it was not yet 730. The sun was already below the horizon so I am not sure when the sign at the park will be changed. The thinnest sliver of moon was setting right behind the sun. I could not resist trying to capture the last rays of summer.

Soon enough sunsets of any hue will be a rare treat. Gray with variations.