Fence Checking & Weird Stuff

Usually just after sunrise I head out to do a daily fence check. I can walk the meadow admire the changes each season brings. The grasses have seed heads and are waiting to drop them. 

The Queen Anne's Lace is beginning to bloom and the milkweed is just about done blossoming.

If there is a good morning dew or fog, I get to stop and admire my favorite spiders who start to appear in abundance at the end of July through August. Orb spiders.

Orb Spider shadow!!!

If I stand quietly just after dawn along our fence line, I can watch the deer emerge from the woods and cross the meadow to the east of us.

In another few weeks and up until gun season, I'll probably sneak out a few times a week to sit in a tree with my camera and watch for some does and bucks in velvet. It is fun to catch them on the trail cam but even more exciting to watch them in real time.

I collected some Queen Anne's Lace to dry while out walking.

I just love their beautiful patterns.

Down in the valley I found an area that had a curious slime mold growing all over the place. It seemed to grow at the base of little plants and small saplings. Odd, but not so odd because of all the rain and humidity we've had. It makes for perfect growing conditions for slime molds.

One of my favorite slime molds to find is fresh Dog Vomit Slime Mold. AKA: Scrambled Egg Slime Mold or Fuligo septica. It is hard to miss as it is such a bright yellow. The patch was very tiny. It probably only is visible for about 24 hours.

I was SO excited to find this tiny patch!
[I know, I am odd.]

We are coming up on the great months for finding all sorts of cool Fungi and odd things growing in the forest. I can't wait!

Anyway, this was my morning walk. Checking on my mules and checking on the fencing.

Have a great week.

Fungi, Slime Mold, and Bumble

Cool damp dew-y mornings are the best times to go look for neat insects. I know, it probably is not on your list of things to do bright and early in the morning.

But that is my 'quiet' time to myself so I go and enjoy the nice easy slow walk through the pasture weeds on the edge of the forest. The birds and a few deer are my company as I stop and peer closely at yarrow, ox eye daisy and other plants.

I was rather disappointed. But finding this bumble bee was pretty exciting. The bumble has heavy dew on it and if you can see the photo large, you might be able to find the Bee Mite on it!

So...that slime mold that looked like fish eggs? 

24 hours later...it looked like this....

The log it was found on...

The yellow slime mold went from this

to this in 24 hours

The third day it turned brown and white. No photo of that. 

Slime molds are very hard to ID. So any ID will be a best guess. I am going with common names as I think they are more fun.

The white stuff could be White Finger Slime mold. The pinkish blob should be Wolf's Milk.

The next shot is of the log I found it on.

Note to self: Tie a piece of orange twine above the 

log next time! Because...
I wasn't able to find it again.

Oh, it has to be easy to find this stuff right?
Here is my boot from the morning walk.
See the little white spots on the log?

These are those little white spots. 
I could not ID this at all!

[I suspect that they are in the family of
Tube Slime Molds]

Just for size comparison, here is a dime 

with the tiny little fungi/slime mold?

I figured I had struck gold in discovering these little things. I tied some twine to the tree next to the log so I can go back and see how it changes.

I slowly walked through the damp area and peered at logs and just when I gave up to go home and check on things I saw something that caught my eye.

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold 

getting ready to fruit!

On another log nearby I found immature 

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold!

As it matures, it changes color

How amazingly lucky I was

to find these in different stages

in the same area!

Fruited CTSM:

I had company coming, so reluctantly headed back towards the house. 

I was bummed in a way because I'd read that these little slime molds change rather quickly and if I couldn't get back before too long, they may fruit and disappear.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered more 

Deadman's Fingers

They are so alien looking that I just had to add this Lego Alien to the photo. I've found this fungi several times this year and I wonder why I've never spotted it before?

Can you guess what I'll be doing today?

Fun stuff

 The Gritty Girls

This is just going to be ...

the Fun Stuff. 

Why not? 

Mirth is out picking mushrooms. I think she is looking for those psychedelic ones!

We TOLD Harriet NOT to play with the food!

Hobby enjoys wandering the woods looking for cool fungi. She found Scrambled Egg Slime Mold aka Dog Vomit Slime Mold. Real name: Fuligo Septica 

Hobby and Susan stop to cool off in the creek after hiking.

Garden Gargoyles discussing the Welcome Friends sign. Obviously they are not impressed.

It is obvious that some of the gals need a bit more education on how to carry a load on a skid steer...

No one was injured.

This weather has been bad for mowing and some outdoor activities. But if one likes fungi and slime molds, this is absolutely great weather.

More on that soon.

Sneak peek:

Naturalist Curiosity

How do we love slime molds and fungi? 
Well, I assume not a lot of people like it.

I don't know why insects, slime mold, and fungi fascinate me. Maybe it is because they are part of such an incredibly small world that we never stop to look at.

White Tube Slime 
or
White Footed Slime
or
Honeycomb Coral Slime?

Take your pick. Hopefully I can go back out today and see if this grew at all and that might help ID it.
This slime mold [?] is smaller than a pencil lead.

Who am
I?

I don't know! There are possibilities, but none of the beetles I found while searching was this tiny. This insect is perched on one goldenrod blossom, that makes it very small.

More cool

slime molds

The penny is used to give the viewer an idea at the size of the cool white slimey stuff. It actually feels rather sticky. But its webs and details are so intriguing.

More cool

strange slime/fungi

white 'stuff'

Of course, this could be white footed slime which if it remains in a moist and warm place would develop into something identifiable. But the forecast looks dry for the next 7 to 8 days.

And then on to my favorites. The Dog Barf/Vomit or another name? Deer Barf! 

Or perhaps Scrambled Egg Slime.

Growing on my

mulch.

Harmless but strange!

Growing on a stump in the pasture.

My favorite fall insect. The Orb Weaver. She decided to set up in my Petunias and has been catching those awful Japanese Beetles that destroy my 4 O'Clocks!

Golden Orb Weaver

Garden

I like her, she is very productive. I've seen her wrap up about 2 of these beetles a day. I'm sure her 'kids' will love what she stored for them!

Lastly.
My only decent star trails/Perseids photo. I sat in the driveway yesterday morning and watched for a while before I decided to try and get a photo. There were 3 meteors that flashed through, but because I used LiveComp, the star trails sort of hide them. This was over my house which was Northwest and not the direction I was supposed to be looking.

And for those who 'see' things. I took a shot of a Teddy Bear cloud. I spent all morning trying to get that SD card to work. I lost it all by reformatting it. That is the first time in 10 years that happened to me. 

However to save the day, I took a terrible shot through the screen of a Duck while we were eating supper.

Ducky or

Bird 

in a wire Cage!

There.
I am off to find more curiosities in small places. 

I still am not allowed to do strenuous things. So I am ducking out of mowing and taking the afternoon to go explore a refurbished trail at KVR.

[Crossed Fingers...that is what I wish to do!]