Hamilton Wetlands and Forest

  A grey morning, with occasional openings in the clouds illuminating mosses and the remaining foliage. The dead stump at the junction of the trail has again produced a crop of mushrooms.  They're likely sulphur tuft, and have appeared on just about exactly the same date as they did last year. A stand of fairy fingers appears nearby. A strong wind last week brought down several alders.  They're framing the huckleberry nurse stump, and loom above the path.  It doesn't feel like a place to loiter in. There is a variety of elfin saddles this season.   According to my books on fungi, there are several species here in BC, of which most are very toxic  and one is delicious.  Somehow I think I'll just stick with supermarket mushrooms. The water level in the Marsh has continued to rise. ...and at last, Mount Arrowsmith is showing white. Five swans were joined by mallards at the south end of the Marsh.   At first one swan appeared, then three. Mallards were less easily spotted.

  A morning of mixed weather, bright sunshine alternating with rain. The combination produced some fine effects of light. The "forest gnomes" had sawed the fallen sapsucker tree, to allow passage along the loop path. A closer look showed that the tree was hollowed, possibly allowing for nesting. The growth of fungi continues, with fungus emerging from moss and tree limbs. A combination of jelly fungus and crustose fungus emerged on a fallen alder. LBMs (Little Brown Mushrooms) were abundant. The Celtic harp now has a fine accumulation of moss, illumined today by the low sun.  It looks less harplike with this adornment.  The remaining maple leaves gleam in the sun. At the Marsh, we were no longer sheltered from rain by the Forest.  The  gauges showed an increase in the water level. Despite the fact that we sat in falling rain, the sky revealed sunlight. A small flight of Canada geese went past, led, strange to relate, by a mallard. It was well worth being rained on to see the

  Our visit to the Hamilton Wetlands and Forest followed on two days of atmospheric river--record-breaking rainfall along coastal British Columbia and unseasonably mild temperatures.  The Monday following the weekend's dramatic weather was quite pleasant, but the effects of the disruption were apparent.   The huckleberry are still fruiting, while the bracken fern is now dying back, producing a striking backdrop for the berry bushes. The autumn foliage gleamed in the morning light. After the days of heavy rain, we agreed to give the loop path (often very boggy) a miss.   The wild weather had brought down a tree that had been a favoured nest site for a red-breasted sapsucker. Here's the tree, inhabited two years ago: The warm, wet weather had brought up an abundance of fungi.  Reviewing Mackinnon and Luther's Mushrooms of British Columbia , these jelly fungus appear to be what are called "spirit gummy bears." I'd known of LBBs --"Little Brown Birds," f