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?

Fun fun Fun..gi and Slime Mold

What should a person do when they live wayyyy out in the country during a a time when you don't feel like co-mingling with other humans?

It is the end of September and the forest is full of creepy, ingenious, and strange growths. So, I spend an hour or so each day walking around the section of the woods that is deep and dark. Where the logs are moss covered. Where old bones from animals lay. It is a place that I didn't go through often because the canopy is so dark and there is little undergrowth.

It is a spooky part of our woods.

I never knew there could be so many things to see in such a small area!

The hard part is trying to figure out what on earth I am finding!

Some of it is easy. Old Chicken of the woods. When fresh, they are bright orange. These are old, but still very impressive in size. Apparently it can be eaten if you know your Fungi. I wouldn't eat this though. Looks a bit on the yucky side.

Blobs.
I found Blobs of white in spots all over the forest floor. I've seen them before but just ignored them while hiking. Not this week. I decided to go ahead and try to figure out what these strange things were.

So at first I poked it with a stick and then with my finger. They feel like a mushroom or fungi. I did some digging and came up with a possible ID. The Shrimp of the Woods. One site said it was a malformed aborted mushroom and another said it was a parasitic fungi that ate other fungi. I am not going to go ahead and give it the scientific name as I am not really quite sure. I have more investigating to do.

I've collected many photos in the past few days and am still trying to figure out what I'm seeing.

Slime Mold?
Here is a photo of my foot in the middle of the white stuff. Is is slime mold? What stage is it if it is?
I really have no idea of what I am seeing so I just photograph it out of curiosity .

Here is a close up of the white stuff. It is gorgeous! It looks like a snow-scape doesn't it? 

Here is the edge of the 'stuff' with a dime for size reference.

It isn't really slimly and icky. Just a bit odd. 

I hunted around the forest a bit more and noted something white on another log. 

Think of the size of flea eggs when you see this as it is a macro shot with my little Tough Camera in the microscopic mode:

I will go back once a day to see what this turns into. I've been trying to do some investigating and slime mold has a 'fruiting' stage.

Oh heck, I have NO idea what I am talking about here.

Just that this stuff is cool, interesting and worth photographing as it changes.

Perhaps I can figure out what it is one of these fine days.

Something tiny but pretty. Yellow Fairy Cup Fungi!

I found this on a piece of wood. Thank goodness for its bright color or I would have missed it. 

The forest always has some sort of surprise!

Here is a slug hugging a tiny puff ball!

And for the last shot of this day another group of fungi growing on a log.

I call these Fungi...a Happy Little Family.

I'm pretty sure I can imagine woodland creatures hiding nearby.

By the way. The color of the trees are magnificent. In the past few days, I've had to run a few errands and I've been able to stop and take some photos.

But this fungi stuff is fascinating also. 

More fall color photos tomorrow. I promise!

And more Strange Fungi or Slime Mold too!

Little

I've always wanted to be a 'landscape' photographer and find beautiful mountains and wild open places to take magnificent photos.

Alas. I mostly find frustration. Oh sure, I get to places like Black Hawk Rock and can stand 195 feet or so above the valley. The stunning scenery just reminds me how lucky I am to live in the Driftless Region.

In truth, I live in a place with steep valleys and hillsides. The woods and forest is my place of comfort, not big wide open places. 

Face it. I like to study the little things around me. 

Take for instance the tiny mushrooms. I enjoyed slowly walking through our forest searching for tiny things that normally don't catch a person's eye.

I actually enjoy catching sight of tiny insects and other strange things.

Strange indeed to find a Samsung phone in my forest. I suspect I know where it came from but am confused as to why no one let me know they lost it in my forest.
I couldn't miss the opportunity to include the tiny soldiers in a 'call for help!'

And then there was Flying Ant Day! The red ants swarm and the ones with wings and do their thing. It isn't always one day, but it is pretty neat to come across them. Something else I wouldn't have found if I were always looking for the big scene.

The Crab Spider. So beautiful and hard to spot unless you are really looking for them on flowers. Another little 'thing'.

Orange Peel Fungi! So beautiful and bright in the moss. I was walking with Charlie just under the trees near a field. I stopped to check out the moss and under the brush was these wonderful spots of color. Little things that look like someone tossed down mini orange peels. 

This? I was looking at my mail and happened to look down. What a pretty little thing. I have no don't know what it is but it may be fungi from the ink cap family. There are dozens of different kinds. I happened to love the color in the morning light.

This Bumble must have stayed out too late? I like cold bees, I can get close to them.

Tiny Bee. There were dozens of them so busy on the fleabane. They were tricky to 'catch' on camera. I resorted to using the 'action' mode and it took several tries before I got a picture of one.

This one is a leaf cutter bee. Not the kind that builds big nests but is more solitary. 

Remember these pretty fungi?

Here they are now.

I imagine their work is done. They spread their spores and will wilt away and disappear.

I spent my 'free' time this week looking for more fungi while Rich was napping. See, it is always a good excuse to have to walk Charlie. He is little too. 

Little dog, little me, 

looking

for 

little 

things!

Little Beautiful Things

With the rains we've had and the humidity 'little' things have begun to emerge in the woodland.

These little beauties are not easy to spot unless you are truly looking for them.

I found these fungi perched on a mossy log with a 'cute' little slug just posing!

Yesterday was the first time in about a week that I have been able to take a hike, although it was a short one before going on shift.

I was happy with the things I discovered and plan to go again today and use my 'day' off to explore the northern hillsides for more incredible fungi and flora.

I was so happy to find some Great Blue Lobelia in our forest, they have such a wonderful blue color:

But the fungi was the most fun, I found small umbrella like ones and these other white strange looking ones!

....
and then there was my photography assistant...Morris.

He is such a help you know.
He makes sure all things are checked out and if something seems out of place he will stand behind me and let me protect him.

He's 'the man'.

Kudos Morris!

Lost in the Little Things

Off I went seeking the little wild strawberry.  When the kids were here Lily and I couldn't go by a plant patch without trying our luck in getting some of these sweet little beauties.

So yesterday I went off alone and picked some for 'Grandpa' who said he missed out on them.

While looking for the little strawberries I kept coming across cool little fungi all over in the woods.
On my second trip out for the day, I went looking just for fungi.

With the rains we've been having, the woods are bursting with fungi, if you can get down into the forest floor to find them.

The last fungi above is often referred to as Coral Fungi. I don't know what the others were.

I was excited to find what I believe is 'Stinkhorn'.  It was broken, but still worth the shot.

It was the first day in a week that I'd had time to myself to go wandering in the woods.  
I do miss the grands, they were so much fun!

But I also miss the quiet time I get once in a while to wander about the forest and look for neat things.
When I got back, my husband said to me...'Geeze, I thought you got lost out there!'

I smiled and handed him the wild berries and all was well.

The end of the day was worth dodging raindrops for!

Hidden Beauty Underfoot

You know there are not only wildflowers that are things of beauty that grow in the woods.

There is the secret world of fungi.
I used to say Mushrooms, but fungi covers most of what I do find.

But apparently Fungi is the more proper term.
I don't know what all I do find, but I think there is a 'project' in the future for a photo book on fungi.

There are some useful sites for Identifying the Fungus Among Us.

Amazing Fungi

Tom Volk's Site, he is right here in LaCrosse Wisconsin.
He has an interesting article on White Nose Syndrome which is regarding the large die out of bats in the Northeastern United States.

Whoops, got a bit sidetracked there!

So if you are taking a walk in the woods or 'round about in your yard, take a closer look at the little things.
Sometimes they are ugly, sometimes beautiful.

The lovely world of fungi.



All shots were done with a point and shoot pocket camera.

A bit of Fun with Fungi!

This month has seen our area hit with incredible amounts of daily rain. Last week we had 4" of rain in 2 or 3 days.

Today we've had at least 1/2" or better of rain.
It makes for miserable weather for the farm animals. It makes bringing in the corn and soybeans impossible.

It makes yucky boot sucking mud everywhere else.

BUT
In the woods, it makes for beautiful creations and designs from Mother Nature as the fungi take advantage of the moisture.

Everywhere I went yesterday, I found fungi and mushrooms growing.
It was rather a delight.

I thought I knew the names of the fungi or mushrooms I saw and photographed, but as I've learned over the years, they are not easy to identify.

I'm pretty sure the middle one is commonly called the Turkey Fan Fungus, as it looks like a turkey tail.

A really fantastic site to visit and browse through fungi and mushrooms photos for identification is American Mushrooms.com.
It is laid out so that even a novice can guess at which category to look into.