I like Lichen

The winter doldrums are sometimes hard to shake and after days of being stuck inside, I've been getting out again.

Whew. Yesterday's excursion was just an amble through the woods and valley to see 'stuff'. I wanted to go explore Lichen.
The book I got said it can be found in the winter rather easily. 

I really like this book and could call it Lichen for Dummies. It is separated by where you can find certain Lichen. Trees, ground, rocks, for example.

So I headed out to the woods on snowshoes which was a good choice. 

And I stopped by one of the first trees I saw.

Next, I need to learn how to identify trees much better. I pretty much am clueless unless I have hubby with me. He can glance at a tree and tell you what it is just by looking at the bark and the shape. 

The moss book is much more difficult. I think the writer assumes that the reader already understands all of the biology and taxonomy behind plants. I don't, but I can learn.

I was pretty excited to try something new. 

Foliose Lichen. [Lichen having lobed leaf like shape]

I didn't know that Lichen is not a singular plant. It is composed of two dissimilar organisms. Lichen is a unique form of Fungus and Algae. The two organisms work together. Tree Dwelling Lichens.
There are between 14 thousand and 20 thousand species. So uffdah! I will only look for general ones!

Lichens don't hurt trees. They can grow on the ground and grow on rocks. I can't wait to get back to Black Hawk Rock in the KVR and study all the lichens I've seen there.

Do I know what I am looking at yet? Nope. Just delving into it. 

Tree trunk with a crack in it and lichens of different kinds growing on it. I recognize the 'leaf' pattern of the most common type of lichen. 

White lichen and moss below. Did the lichen 'eat' the moss? Or is this just dried up?
I don't know.

So much to learn!

Cropped for a closer look.

When I got to the creek to search for mosses and more lichen, I got sidetracked.

Guess who? The Robin crowd!

I crept up on them and they flew off. So I squatted down on my snowshoes and waited. The Robins came back and busied themselves along the edges of the creek.

I really think this bunch has wintered here in the valley. 

I realized my hands were getting cold and I'd dropped my mittens somewhere along the way. 

I found the mittens at the second tree I'd stopped to look at. What a duh moment!

But the mitten retrieval took me past an old oak tree that had been blown down about 3 years ago. It was covered in exciting 'stuff'.

I put the mittens in my pocket and pulled out the Oly Tough camera with the super macro mode [this is what I used on the other photos]. I should have taken those shots with the auto focus stack, they would have been clearer. [Live and learn right?]

Cool white black lichen. I can classify it as a Crustose Lichen:

Very odd looking. I just thought it was some sort of slime moldy thing. Did you know that slime mold falls into the fungi category? Nah, me neither, but it does.

Last but not least. I think this is some sort of fungi growing on the lichen. 

They look like creepy little turds or something. They are less than 2cm across so you can have an idea just how small they are.

And for the last of the discoveries.

Unidentified orange 'stuff'.

This was growing in small cracks in the wood. So I may assume it is dead lichen or dead fungi of some sort.

I do love mysteries like this to solve. Tiny things in the woods that we don't even notice because we are always looking for the Big Picture.

I can't wait to get out and find some more curious things.