25 November, 1 December

25 November 

Two weeks in November saw such wild winds that we didn't think it wise to visit the forest.  I've already written of blowdowns at the beginning of the month, and feared more such events.  As it happened, the forest--or at least the north side of it, where we walk-- remained unaffected.  On returning on the 25th of November, we found that the mythical Forest Gnomes appear to have braved the elements, and replaced battered old signs with elegant new ones.

Further seasonal change was evident.  It was a day of changing light, with stretches of the path illumined.

Ephemeral ponds, not uncommon in the Forest, have increased in number and in size.

I had hoped to track change in the fruiting bodies of the "salmon egg" slime mold (trichia decipiens) but two weeks absence has not shown change.  In fact the "salmon eggs," seem to have shrunk.

They are now accompanied by small fungi and possibly an additional white slime mold.  Apparently the biodiversity evident in plant and animal life is exceeded by those of fungi and slime molds.  

This stump illustrates the variety supported in a dead snag.  

There are at least two types of fungi at work breaking down this snag.  The reddish brown leaves the lignin of the wood intact, the white eventually breaks down all of the wood.  The black is also a fungus, possibly the species that has fed on the tree's resin.  There are small bracket fungus growing on the stump, and a species of moss.  In addition, pileated woodpeckers have drilled their way into the wood in shapes that indicate a search for food.  Given the extent of the drilling, they must have found insects and persisted.

A Pacific wren, typically shy at this time of year, hopped about in the transitional foliage.  

The rains of the past weeks have brought the water level up in the Marsh.

Three trumpeter swans, two adults and a juvenile, swam in the open water at the east end of the Marsh.

As our time at the Marsh passed, the sky cleared.  The waters of the Marsh reflected a show of cloud.  

1 December

A return to the Forest and Wetlands after a calmer week.  The paths are somewhat less boggy, and there don't seem to have been any new blowdowns.   The Forest was still, apart from occasional frog vocalises.

It has been a week of mild temperatures.  Huckleberry vines are bare of leaves, but are starting to bud.

The fungi are leading to reflections about the imaginative names given them by mycologists, some poetic, some less so. Butt rot emerges from decaying conifers.  

Pink sherbet polypore (probably leptoporus mollis) looks quite tasty, but probably would disappoint anyone who sampled it.  It's described in Mackinnon and Luther's Mushrooms of British Columbia as "not edible--too tough."

These little reddish purple fungi may be purple jelly drops.

We'll need to monitor their development in future visits. 

The water level in the Marsh appeared to have remained stable from the previous week.

Waterfowl were scarce in the Marsh.  

A pair of mallards swam about at its east end.

A small, and unusually quiet flight of Canada geese flew over.

The forecast remains for mild temperatures and occasional rain.  We'll hope for a dry patch this coming Saturday.