I generally think of March and November as very dull months. I call them the brown months, months without color and excitement. Dull so darned dull.
Winter brown. This is the neighbor's road up on the ridge surrounded by cropland.
See?
A few weeks ago I was browsing some new books to read. A friend had recommended Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. So I was just looking through the titles and came upon the moss and lichen books. A comment was made that even in the dead of winter, one can find moss and lichen.
That was a bit of an Ah-Hah! moment. Just as finding fungi are incredibly fun and interesting, I thought Why not Lichen and Moss? Boy was I in for it. Moss is so hard to ID without a microscope. However I am beginning to see the tiny differences in the plants and learn where different mosses do grow, as well as Lichen.
And best of all? I have found color in March!
Sunday morning Charlie and I went to the cropland on the ridge to watch the sun arrive. Bringing along coffee to sip on was a great idea!
The day was supposed to get very windy with wind gusts up to 40 mph. So after morning chores and breakfast, I set out to catch some morning light in the woods below the house.
I couldn't get over the beautiful colors highlighted by the morning sun.
Then there was the pretty blue-green colors of the Lichen I found...
I think I can safely say that I think I recognized a moss called ... Common name: American Tree Moss. Scientific name [generalized]: Climacium americanum.
Of course there are multiple kinds of this moss.
I find it easily this time of year because it is so brilliantly green when everything surrounding it is brown. I found a several patches of it above the spring on a north facing hillside. The morning sun lit up the green like a beacon.
And then I doubt myself of course when I find two similar but different mosses.
It sure looks like I need to really learn quite a bit more. No one said this was going to be easy. But it sure is fun.
For those who like Fungi, I was sent a fascinating video on Fungi by a fungi friend on Flickr --- say that 3 times fast!
Stephen Axford: How fungi changed my life
It is a 30 minute video with time lapse photography and some of Stephen's most incredible photos of fungi all over the tropical world. It was interesting enough that even my husband watched it with me.
Now on to mundane things. Chores and pasture cleaning for today.
And hopefully some wonderful fungi sightings while cleaning the pasture. A incredible eye opener film, I watched it twice it is so incredible especially the time lapse photography.
ReplyDeleteI would love to do time lapse but I am sure I don't have that patience! I loved the video and watched it a second time also.
DeleteLichen and Moss such fun things to photograph during brown months...although your sunrise is lovely!
ReplyDeleteSimply amazing, I saved the video around 8 min. in to come back and finish. Thanks so much for sharing!! I am always learning things from you. Who knew there were vibrant colored mushrooms, with such incredible texture and beautiful detail. Not me. I have to admit, every time he said species names it reminded me of the spells Harry Potter casts lol. I know, I am a dork. Now I not only think I want a Macro lens, I think I really need one!! I picked one out a few months ago, have yet to justify the dang cost tho.
ReplyDeleteIt seems we were out and about in a similar sea of brown and state of mind last weekend, looking for nature to color our world :) Beautiful sunrise! I like the fern looking moss (pic with fingers in it). I need to figure out the difference between moss & lichen. I've googled the difference, and it is still clear as mud. So much to learn, so little time.
Moss and lichen often live together! I didn't know that until just recently. Stephen Axford mentions this briefly in his film. Even fungi live with fungi and moss!
DeleteI was out again today trying to take pictures that did some justification to the beautiful moss and lichen.
I use a 30mm lens which was priced fairly reasonable. I have a 60mm too that will do in camera focus stacks. I spend a lot of time crawling about on the woods floor.
Just go enjoy looking at them ... the wildflowers will soon burst forth and give everyone something more to look at.
I hope to find some cool fungi if we have good rain and weather this year.
Sometimes I think I 'know' what I have found in the moss department but then I find that I simply don't know. But it is fun.
*Even fungi live with lichen and moss!
ReplyDeleteI love when a heavy layer of moss grows beneath pines deep in the woods near a stream. It just seems to act like natural soundproofing.
ReplyDelete