Fungus Among Us!

I went back to the 'Billings Creek' trail Monday afternoon. I had a hunch that there would be a lot of fungi to see.

I was also curious as to whether or not the KVR folks had removed the trail marker on the south end of the trail. They had.

I just wanted to hike out to the spot where the bluffs were and watch the river below. That particular area is perfect for all sorts of fungi.

The climate of the bluffs and the river make for a perfect 'fungi' wonderland.

The panoramic photo really doesn't do this justice, as it makes a rather curvy area take on a flat look. The little bluffs stuck out at angles not shown in the shot below.
However, Charlie and I dumped our stuff there and then took an hour or so to wander around under the trees and explore.

We also sat on the bluff and watched kayakers and canoers on the river below.

Everywhere under the pines there was fungi of all different kinds. The yellow ones stood out on this one bluff.

The new ones emerging looked like this...

I think they are Yellow Fly Agaric Mushrooms. Deadly or hallucinogenic? Well, there are all sorts of opinions about that. These little buggers are notorious for people trying them and ending up in the ER.

I think I will pass.

Here is one I have not seen before. I think it is a Flat topped Coral Mushroom/Fungi.

They were so abundant in one small area that I had to watch my step.

I found beautiful coral fungi in all sorts of stages. The old ones were withered and littered another area, while there were tiny fresh ones popping up all over.

I found Boletes? 

They literally lined areas of the old trail. And in other places they stood out with their brilliant colors. There were older ones all over the forest floor, but I was attracted to the colorful ones.

We took our time. I just had wanted to explore the bluffs and search for cool fungi and I hit the motherload.

It was a fun little jaunt.

And there it is...

 

This morning I read some of the blogs I follow. My take away from The Brownstone Birding Blog is something I had been thinking about most of the day on Sunday. Larry in his blog asks if we have become too impatient these days? 

Has the internet, smart phones, instant everything ruined us? 

Yes. I think so. The last two days, I've taken an afternoon break and strung the hammock up between the pine tree and the hickory tree. I thought I'd get bored right away and fall asleep. I had my Smarty Phone with me and was going to play some music. 

Charlie wanted up and I tipped the hammock and dropped the phone on the ground. It stayed there while Charlie and I got comfortable.

After a bit, I noticed the Robin's nest above us. It was empty now whereas a few days ago the Robin had chirped at me when I was picking up sticks below it. Had her fledglings already left the nest?

A bit later I heard raindrops coming down through the leaves. Well, it wasn't raining, we are in a very dry spell. I listened a bit more carefully and I could hear something gnawing on...??? 

Pretty soon, pieces of a hickory nut shell started falling down on us. Charlie woke up and sat up. He could hear the noises too.

By golly, we had been so quiet that a squirrel had settled in above us and was eating a nut. 

For a couple of hours we did nothing. My phone laid on the ground. I listened to the squirrel and listened for birds [most are migrating away]. 

When I walked back to check on the mules before supper, I saw dozens of bluebirds launching from the barbed wire fence and flying into the forest.

When I got back, I checked the dehydrator. The sweet corn was coming along well. 

I walked through my east flower garden and took some time just to enjoy it. The dull area I had started with was now full of a riot of colors. I could stand in the path I'd made and not be seen from the driveway!

And there it is...

my thoughts for a Monday morning. 

Warm day!

Well, I guess it was the January thaw. However there was not much snow to melt and I was surprised at how dry the ground is. Normally we are plunged into mudsville by any temperatures above freezing in January.

Since the temperatures were nearly 40 degrees, I thought I'd see if Morris would walk the Merry Meadow with Dixie and I.

After all, Morris used to go with us every time I took Dixie out.
Here is a photo from 2014. Even though Dixie is huge compared to Morris, she has never run him over or knocked him down.

And here is Dixie as a puppy with Morris showing her the way...

So I thought, why not? Maybe Morris won't decide to just turn around and go home if Dixie is with.

So off we went.

Some views never seem to change.
Though Dixie never bumped Morris or tried to make him chase her. She just did her thing and he did his.

We managed to get around the whole meadow before Morris decided to head home.
And believe me, when he decides it is time, there is no stopping him.

Morris will run away from me when I try and put the leash on him. There is nothing to do but follow.

When we got to the house he went to the door and sat. Dixie sat next to him. I let Morris in and then went to doing the early afternoon task of filling the stock tanks.

Dixie assisted and while I waited for the large stock tank to fill I spotted Scout's tennis ball in the yard where the snow melted.
I picked it up and tossed it for Dixie.
I hadn't played fetch with her since she was a puppy. I wondered if she'd remember.

Talk about being surprised!

Well, I was. She had a blast. I threw it several times. She lost interest after about 10 throws. Her nose picked up something in the garden and she had to investigate.

All of the animals were sunbathing and lounging in the nice winter break.
We are about to plunge back into rainy foggy weather. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain/snow or something.
Then the temperatures will plunge in to the single digits again.

Afternoon walk

I wanted to see if I had marked the trail well enough. There is a spot in the trail that gives the hiker two choices.
Either choice is good and will lead to the same place.

Once marked it seems they are so easy to follow. Well, they really aren't. But I had redone some of the notches on the trees anyway.

Down in the valley the snowmobile club folks had taken a bulldozer to the creek. They must have retrieved the culvert and put it back down as a crossing.

This will hold until the next big snow melt or flash flood. The dozer filled in the area with loose soil. Erosion was never an issue until they started moving the earth around.

Here is the hole that they filled in again. It was about 6 feet deep.

I followed the valley to the end and searched out the spot that used to have a 'waterfall' of sorts.
I found it. Of course everything had changed drastically since spring. We'd had a few mild flash floods and as with this area, it rearranged the land. The shot below is the current version.

This is from 3 years ago.

I love how things never really stay the same.

After I visited what I call 'the spring falls' [a large spring is above this area and flows through water cress and rocks before it burrows into the land and joins the main creek] ~ I went to the Long Rocky Dry Run.
It is one of the harder places to get to.

Here is a view from above it after I climbed out.

Don't be fooled by the photo, the steep sides are challenging. Rock and mountain climbing are good skills to have here.

As I went home I stopped by another place that had changed quite a bit with the freezing temperatures.

One of the places I like to jump over the creek is here. This was Sunday.

The above shot is in the same place but on Friday.

The volume of water has changed in certain spots too. Here it was again on Sunday.

And here it was on November 11th.

The heavier flow of water has shifted to the opposite side of the rocks changing the whole look of the little pond area.

However, the trout didn't seem to mind a bit.

I could have spent hours exploring more. But daylight fades early and chores must be done.
I headed home.