Fungi & the project

First some pretty frost photos of Cosmos flowers. In the last one there is a fly that has frost on it!

I've been working on having some fun finding Fungi and Mushrooms. Why not? I can't be running around going to craft fairs or hosting company right now, so a Nature Project seems sensible.

September and October seem to be a good Fungi/Mushroom/Slime Mold time of year. Just as April and May are incredible for finding spring flowers emerging.

We haven't had a recent rain so the wonderful world of Fungi is a bit dry. That presents an interesting opportunity in itself.
The photos you rarely see in Mushroom books.
This is pretty ugly but also pretty telling. The mushroom comes up with moisture, grows rapidly, spreads its spores, and is done.

All within a few short days! I have no idea what this 'shroom looked like in its prime. I'm guessing it is a Jumbo Gym [common name]. 

Below are some little purply red-ish odd fungi that grow all over on the dead mossy logs...

I saw them referred to as Rusty Gills in one place. I saw several 'names' that could ID them. Without a microscope and spore prints [I know! Very technical stuff, right?] I doubt I could ever really say what they are.
Less just call them cool little fungi.

Here is another log with them dried out and shriveled.

I think they are just as interesting like this as they are when fresh!

And then there is this to consider. I'm not even going to pretend to know what most of these fungi are. For example there is a common one called the Russulla with about 750 different species of it.

I have no idea if these are Russulla or some other strange and exotic named Fungi.

Pretty in a way, aren't they?

I wonder if these are the same kind as the ones above only aged?

I really don't know.

But I am having a blast looking for them and photographing them.

Old Oyster Mushroom bunch perhaps?

I find them oddly beautiful in how the grow and how they reproduce.

And for your enjoyment, something I thought was neat.

Not the best photo but kind of a cool common name.

Ochre Spreading Tooth.

Charlie and I explored upper Duck Egg today. We went to the look out, got a bit off trail and explored the prairie on top. Charlie is exhausted from 'swimming' in the grass.

He is such a trooper!

So my next project ... I think, will be a photo book of 2020. This is such a bizarre year.

It deserves being Memorialized. Yes?