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Leaf Litter MycoBob Phenology Journal Uncategorized

The rain delivers on its promises …

One of my favorite mushroom field guides is “All that the Rain Promises and More,” partially because it’s a great resource, even if the focus is on Western fungi, and mostly because the cover photo is awesome.

The rain made a few promises this week, and it delivered today. We had several days of relative warmth and rain, so I had high hopes when I went out to forage this morning. I was rewarded with this beautiful flush of oyster mushrooms on a downed poplar branch in Hermit Hollow.

I took a chance and left these guys, hoping they’ll get a bit larger over the next day or three while avoiding the rapacious white-tail deer who seem to be my main competitor for oysters.

I also came across a flush of what I believe are common bonnets.

On the non-fungi front, I found bones from the white-tail deer that died late last summer. They were covered in leaf litter so I suspect some predator/scavenger dug them up hoping for more than was there.

I also found some native orchids, putty root, hunkered down for the winter.

And finally, it looks as if the woodpeckers have been busy. In all, it was a great walk in the woods. If the deer leave my oysters alone I’ll be feasting on this this weekend.

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Assorted Bob Dog Bob Leaf Litter MycoBob

Meet the AKC registered Turtle Dog

Althea has become obsessed with box turtles and manages to find and harass them every time we go out. I know she’s found one when I hear her barking, at which point I go over, right the poor turtle that she flipped, and pull her away, leaving the turtles in peace. No turtles have been harmed thus far.
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Assorted Bob Leaf Litter Tree Bob

Where in the world is Sydney the Cockatoo …

Can you spot the invasive species in this beech tree? It’s the umbrella cockatoo (Cacatua alba), also known as Sydney the escapee. His flight feathers came in, allowing him to soar off into the forest when Althea made a run at him last Sunday. He landed in a beech tree in a steep, difficult to access part of the forest, and he spent the night there. I finally managed to retrieve him the next morning. At some point during the night, he’d moved to a smaller tree, a young sugar maple, and I followed him as he went to a succession of small maples, eventually ending up on the forest floor. He was shivering in fear when I finally retrieved him and I think he was glad to view the forest through a large glass window again after his night on the lam …