12 November

 A dark morning to visit the Forest and Wetlands, following on a night of rain.

The Forest was dark and still.

Once again, there had been high winds in the previous week, and blowdowns were evident.

The nurse stump that we monitor regularly is now framed by fallen trees.

I had taken a short side-trip to the Happy Cow Farm, where there were nine trumpeter swans on a distant field.  As I walked into the Forest, I caught a brief glimpse of large birds flying overhead--likely the swans.   They weren't visible in the Marsh, although they vocalised briefly. 

New growth of fungi continue to appear.

An orange growth at the end of an alder log that I photographed last week

has matured into tiny orange balls on short stems.  It's actually not a fungus, but a slime mold.   I've learned that these are a "transitional stage" in the life cycle of trichia decipiens--a common slime mold.  At this stage they're sometimes called "salmon eggs," which they do indeed resemble.  Their life history is quite interesting, but quite involved.  I'm including a website describing them at length, https://www.monaconatureencyclopedia.com/trichia-decipiens/?lang=en .  I'll  also try to track their (his/her?  its?--pronouns have become so tricky of late) behaviour in the coming weeks.  Slime molds do tend to wander a bit, but I'll try.

Our fungus, moss, and plant expert has kindly helped out again, and identifies this as likely to be leptoporus mollis, or "Pink sherbet polypore," a fungus that grows on dead conifers.

It was growing on a recently broken off douglas fir stump.

The fairy fingers that I identified last week have grown and branched.

A generous lump of witches' butter looks as unappetising as witches' butter always does.

The water level in the Marsh continues to rise.

The clouds were beginning to disperse over the Marsh.

There were bufflehead and mallards at the south end of the Marsh, too distant to photograph.  A buck and a doe relaxed across from the dock.

The buck observed me, calmly, while the doe seemed more interested in the buck.

The fringes of the Marsh retain golden leaves.  

There was a lot to observe and learn, despite the dull weather.