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12 October

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  There really is no such thing as an indifferent visit to the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest, but Saturday was exceptional.  The brilliantly clear sunlight illumined the forest,  initially from a low angle as the sun moves to the south seasonally.   As I set out, I realised with a bit of a cringe that it was the autumn Big Day for birders, which likely meant that the paths would be filled with talkative folks.  I've nothing against birders (duh--I am one, after all), but the amount of blether that accompanies a Big Day unfortunately reduces the number of birds that will emerge to be recorded.   As luck would have it, there were only two groups of any size in the Forest, both young and enthusiastic and --oh well--vocal. At the point where the path branches off to the loop, I hesitated, and saw that the first group was headed straight to the dock.  Fine, I thought, and made my way to the branched path. The sun set the hemlock aglow. New fungus appeared along the branch route. These lo
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October 5th

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  A visit to the Forest and Wetlands on a dark morning.  It remained dry, and the path to the dock was only damp, but it definitely showed the changing season.  The bigleaf maples are adorning the paths and undergrowth with their golden foliage. Strange to relate, there seemed to be fewer fungi than were present two weeks ago.  Still, there were some tiny beauties among the mosses. I don't understand this, but cloudy mornings often seem to bring out more birds--mostly songbirds.  At the junction of the trail and the trail loop, there were golden-crowned kinglets,  Pacific wrens, spotted towhees adding their rather grumpy squawks, and red-breasted nuthatches commenting from the treetops.  And a red squirrel, less vocal than during previous visits, perhaps because he was feeding busily on something (I'm not sure on what but he seemed to be enjoying it.). There were an abundance of birds audible on this visit, although they weren't cooperative with photos.  A red-breasted saps
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22 September

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 During our recent visit to Hamilton Wetlands and Forest   the threatening weather held off.  There's been enough rain to nurture a variety of fungi, but the woods still look dry, the deciduous bracken ferns have dried, and the water level in the Marsh continues to sink. We've had two reports of bear sightings in recent weeks.  Although we've yet to see one, there is certainly evidence of their activity in the Forest.  They're pulling bark off trees and tearing stumps apart in search of grubs.   A variety of fungi have emerged. Some mushrooms in groups, some singly or in pairs. Brittlegills, as is true of many of the genus russula , are strikingly coloured.   A panther agaric was just emerging. Miniscule mushrooms emerge from fir cones. Two new species of polypore (to me, at least) have appeared.   I stand to be corrected, but I think this is Dyer's polypore--apparently emerging from the ground, from the root of a nearby conifer. Red-belted conks appear in a variety
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