12 December

 A mild but dark morning in the Forest and Wetlands.  The dark was unsurprising in mid-December;  the mild was an unexpected gift.  

\


The moss and fungi continue to develop, possibly more slowly than they have in past weeks.  


A couple of new species of fungus have appeared;  or at least earlier fungi have developed.



It's not immediately clear what happened to this log, but we suspect that a bear has broken it down looking for grubs.  Perhaps a midnight snack?



A new cascara has emerged, looking very lush.


As we approached the Marsh, it was apparent that our bench was already occupied.


The song sparrow yielded and let us sit to observe.

The water level in the Marsh has risen further.


Arrowsmith showed itself clearly, 


as did its reflection.

The open water at the south-east end of the marsh is beginning to fill with ducks.

There are mallards,


a gathering of buffleheads,


and two ring-necked ducks--not all that common in these parts.


We'll look forward to another visit before Christmas.  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 October

Image
  Sunday in the Wetlands and Forest.  A day of multitudinous  mushrooms and (to alliterate again) what my Dad used to call a "marsh hawk."  These days, more correctly, if not alliterative, a female northern harrier.   The forest has an abundance of mushrooms this year.  I'll pick some this coming Friday for the annual Arrowsmith Naturalists' Mushroom and Nature Festival, and try to include photos to show where my harvest was growing.  Hopefully, after the Festival, I'll be more able to identify what I'm photographing.   For now, a sampling: They grow in a variety of settings: This bracket fungus emerges from a dead, mossy alder. A stand of beautiful mushrooms emerging among oregon grape and trailing blackberry. A cluster of saprophytic* mushrooms emerging from a dead stump. Possibly staghorn jelly fungus? The spectacular and lethal fly amanita, or fly agaric, growing in kinnikinnik. * saprophytes: organisms that feed on a variety of...
Read more

17 March

Image
  Gradually, spring is making its way into the Forest and Wetlands.  The frogs were in full voice this morning, celebrating the change of the season.       https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEgrY6-12eF-hQS9O2krJc-B62u7uAg-/view?usp=sharing     It was, finally, a sunny morning, and the forest is becoming increasingly lush.  Skunk cabbage shoots are just appearing. A variety of mosses are emerging, some of which we hadn't seen before.  We'll hope for identification. We've only seen the moss below in one spot.  It seems uncommon for this area;  it will be worth monitoring its development as well as submitting it to iNaturalist. There were a couple of patches of birds-nest fungus among the mosses. I've observed the branches of this conifer before, thinking it was a western hemlock, but looking for the parent tree or cones to confirm my identification. Today I realised that it is actually an entire young tree, with the central trunk ...
Read more

26 February

Image
  Spring is definitely approaching in the Wetlands and Forest, despite icy temperatures today.  There had been wild weather yesterday, and patches of hail remained. As we entered the forest, the light was a brilliant contrast to the darkness of the previous weeks. It struck and transfigured this huckleberry vine. My walking partner spotted and identified a rarity--hair ice emerging from downed alders.  Its occurence is linked with a specific fungus, lepidopsis effusa , which emits a chemical that enables strands of ice to emerge from downed wood at temperatures just below 0 C.  Here, its emergence is limited to fallen alder which has shed its bark.   This mossy stump is becoming a nursery for two little huckleberry  vines.   There were unmistakeable sounds of spring.  A pacific wren, still secretive, trilled its song, the first we've heard after the winter's chip notes.  Approaching the Marsh, we were greeted by an exuberant chorus ...
Read more