Mushrooms of September

Here are some of the mushrooms I have spied over the last few days. 

After an exceedingly hot and dry summer, it has cooled a bit and has even rained some.

For the first time in ages, I'm linking with Lisa'a Chaos for Macro Monday.

-Susan

I'm still here!

I took this shot the other day from across a table poolside. I love dragonflies and this pool always has them in abundance!

Hope you're having a great summer!

-Susan

The end of winter

While we haven't really had winter this year, even that attempt at winter seems to be losing its hold on Shakerag. I don't recall a winter that didn't produce at least one snow. This winter, we had one afternoon of snow that was gone in about four hours. That suits me just fine, but I do not look forward to all the ticks this warm winter will produce.

So here are some random photos from this extremely mild winter.

A tree in bloom at the park

Redbud about to bloom with the Bald Eagle in the background at the Nature Station at LBL.

The eagle from the Nature Station

The little red phase Screech Owl also at the Nature Station

White Pelicans at the dam

More lovely White Pelicans

Black Vultures at the dam 

Hematite Lake

It was a mild, pleasant winter. 

Now I'm ready for spring!

-Susan

Tuesday in the park

Well, the groundhog may have seen his shadow, but plants, animals, and fungi around here sure think it is early spring. Earlier this week, we had the chance to take the kids to a park. 

These photos are part of what I found.

Does anyone know what the flower below is? It is quite small and grows in the woods. 

I haven't been able to identify it.

Below is one of my all-time favorite trees. It's a favorite of my mom's as well. 

It was my grandmother's favorite tree, too. I love it.

I don't know if I am more taken with the moss or the roots.
Decisions, decisions!

The photo doesn't do it justice, but the moss was aglow.

Why, yes, I did photograph mushrooms! How did you guess?

I don't know what these are, except pretty. Of that I am sure.

See the mushrooms in the next picture? They are red.

I think they are Sarcoscypha coccinea. They are commonly known as Scarlet Cups or, 

more fancifully, as Scarlet Elf Caps. 

In the guides, these are listed as an early spring mushroom. How exciting!

As always, feel free to click on any picture for a closer look.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think.

Don't forget to stop by

blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

The man they left behind

While at the park this week, I was looking around the base of a tree (for mushrooms, of course) and found this lone cowboy. He was standing his ground, waiting for reinforcements that never arrived.

He was a sobering note on an otherwise beautiful, sunny, warm day.

Poor little guy.

Don't forget to stop by

blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Land Between the Lakes

The weather has been wonderfully and unseasonably warm.

Until this week. Today's high barely made it above freezing.

I did have a chance to go to Land Between the Lakes. 

And I take any chance I get when it comes to visiting LBL.
It was too cold to do much, but I did take a few pictures.

On our way to Hematite Lake, we saw the largest herd of Fallow Deer I have ever seen.

There were about 25 deer.

Fallow Deer are not native to this area. They were introduced for hunting.
Now, many of them live happily throughout Land Between the Lakes.

I thought this exposed root was cool looking.

The thrill of the trip was on the way home. As we drove north on the trace toward home,
I spied a Barred Owl sitting in a tree near the road.

 He (or she) was beautiful in the late afternoon sun. He seemed to be dozing.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Susan

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a lovely, warm, sunny day. 

The kids, the dog, and I had a wonderful time playing in the woods. 

 The kids and the dog played in the creek.

 

Anything that gets Copper in the water is a fun game for him.

He even likes to retrieve rocks. Silly dog.

I found mushrooms to photograph. 

 

 I strongly suspect these are Deadly Galerina 

(Galerina marginata, previously known as "Galerina autumnalis").

 According to the Wiki article, Galerina means helmet-like.

I think they are pretty little things, even if they are quite poisonous.

Nothing makes me smile in the winter quite like the 

greens of mosses and lichens.

I even found some oyster mushrooms which didn't photograph well, but tasted pretty darn good.

Yesterday was a lovely finish to a good year.

Today, on the other hand is cold, windy, and gray. 

It's not my favorite kind of day.

But we are a day closer to spring!

-Shakerag Susan

I'm still alive!

I know it has been a while since I posted. I have no idea what I have been doing to prevent me from blogging. Apparently, I have been out of the habit. No matter. Here I am and with new pictures, too. 

Okay, I admit it, this is the same old subject matter- mushrooms.

Oyster mushrooms, specifically. They have been so abundant lately that I can't look out a window or 

walk to the car without seeing some.

I think the babies are particularly photogenic.

These were absolutely teeny-tiny.

I really like the ones that grow on the bottom of logs, too.

Do you know what I don't like about oyster mushrooms? 

The taste. 

I really, really want to like them, but I don't.

Maybe I am just cooking them wrong. I'll try them again soon, but as beautiful and easy to identify and abundant as they are, I SHOULD love them, but I don't.

Does anyone have any cooking tips for oyster mushrooms?

As I have said before, don't eat any mushroom you are even slightly unsure of. 

Safety first, people.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving (or good Thursday for those outside the U.S.).

-Susan

Oyster Mushrooms

Lately, the weather has been really dry. We had one day of rain in the last couple of weeks, but it's still mighty dry. So there have been very few mushrooms to find when I have made my trips into the woods.

But there have been oysters. Lots of oysters.

 Pleurotus ostreatus is the Latin name for these lovely mushrooms.

They are all over this poplar log.

The "babies" are simply adorable.

To me, at least.

After noticing all the mushrooms springing forth from this log, I brought a jug of water for them. 

The creek the log is over is completely dry.

Oysters are supposed to be really tasty mushrooms, but after Hen-of-the-Woods, I wasn't impressed.

I'll try them again another time.

I know this is an obvious warning, but 

DO NOT EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOM THAT YOU ARE NOT 100% SURE WHAT IT IS!

Stop by Lisa's Chaos to see what other macros this Monday brings. 

As always, click on any photos for an enlargement.

-Susan