Can you name it?

Not much going on right now. 

I have been wandering the woods as usual and have been finding neat and cool stuff which I have been trying to identify.

This below is something I came across while hiking on Thursday. I have found these before along the river bluffs and near pines so I am thinking this would be the proper climate for them.

Pin Cushion Moss
it grows in acidic soil in shaded forests or swamps, near bases of trees and on rock ledges... [from the Minnesota Seasons site]

I've seen these often along the areas I walk. Warner Creek, Weister Creek, and the Kickapoo River. They are so cute and distinct. One wants to reach down and touch them. They are so soft and pliable.

Here is another cool and weird looking thing I found. It is a mushroom and after a lot of searching I came up with a name for it.

The common name is Shrimp of the Woods. It is supposed to be quite edible.

This was a perplexing fungi to identify because I just thought it was strange twisted fungi growth gone all wrong.

In fact that is what the Latin name sort of implies. Entoloma arbortivum. And apparently several sources say they are easy to identify yet there is a poisonous look alike. Um. I will pass then.

These tiny orange things are pretty cool. They caught my eye because of their brilliant color on the wet wood.

I have narrowed it down to Insect Egg Slime Mold

But I found different patches of similar 'stuff' but slightly different.

Considering that it is fall, and this stuff is bright orange I will just admire it. I don't have a microscope to do any further digging. Insect Egg Slime Mold or Yellow Fuzzy Slime Cone?

While we are on orange fungi stuff, here is one I cannot ID.

It was about 6 feet above the ground growing on ... oh, crap, I never bothered to ID the tree. 

There it is, a mystery.

I did find similar but smaller ones in my own woods on dead ash trees. Does that help at all?

This one I think I do know.

It starts out like a bit of white goo, but is not gooey.

Last year I watched it slowly grow over a time frame of about a week in this very same spot. Taken September 24th 2021.

It is called Abortiporus biennis and according to the MushroomExpert.com, it comes in several forms. 

Here it is on September 27th of last year:

And....

Of course I could be completely wrong. Another name for this in its regular state is Blushing Rosette. That is when it doesn't go all 'wrong'. 

When it grows on wood stumps [I dug around and found a stump and wood under the dirt] and becomes deformed it looks like the above photo. 

Mother Nature sure is interesting.

I thought I had figured out what the following fungi were but then sort of gave up.

They are so beautiful.

They have gills and are not large, they grow on an old log. This is the second time they have grown here this year.

Then there are these and I have No Idea what they are but found them interesting. Will they grow larger or do nothing?

I have no idea what they are but with the little bit of rain and misty mornings with heavy dew, the forest in certain areas have burst forth with all sorts of cool fungi and slime molds.

I could just spend the day crawling through this one area of our forest and keep finding neat things.

But fall color and leaves are on everyone's mind. Certain reports say our area is not in full color.

In the valleys, I will beg to differ.

The photo below was shot with a graduated ND filet so the sky wouldn't be so blown out.

This is one of the back roads I take when coming back from town.

Welcome to Monday.