Pardoned a Turkey

We saved a turkey today.  Decided to eat a chicken instead, mainly so our small family wouldn't be eating leftovers for a week.  We enjoy seeing groups of wild turkeys roaming the fringes of the campus at Feather River College.  And, on yesterday's nature walk, lots of patches of Turkey Tail Fungus were growing along the nature trail, mostly on the trunks and fallen limbs of California Black Oak.  Click on this photo for a closer view.  It's quite an attractive fungus.
Later, after some serious napping, I'll post more findings in Shroomin' at FRC, Part II.

Shroomin' at FRC, Part I

 We've already experienced a fair amount of wind and rain and a bit of snow this fall, but a few days of warmer weather, although still rainy, has brought a lot of color of a different sort than what is normally celebrated as "fall colors."  A couple of weeks ago the Goldenrod shown above was under six inches of snow for a few days.  Amazingly, now that the snow has melted it is still blooming.
My walk around campus this morning was ostensibly a search for newly emerged mushrooms, but a few other items caught my eye on the way to the first fungi.

 In front of the college library, I had enjoyed the brightly blooming Rabbitbrush for a couple of months along with the dense gatherings of Skippers and Thread-waisted Wasps that found them to be attractive landing pads.  Now that the insects are gone and the Rabbitbrush has gone to seed, it is still attractive.

 Some of the largest Black Oaks I've seen grow on the FRC campus near buildings and I'm so glad they were preserved when the campus was built.  This one by the Student Center is huge and supports a great crop of moss that is very bright green during these wet days.

 At the base of one of the larger oaks I found this pair of fungi which when viewed from above looked like the stumps of two young oaks.  A side view shows the gills and the fact they are obviousy fungi.

 This cluster of purplish brown fungi is growing near the Orange Peel Fungi I pictured here a few days ago.  I think they might be of the genus Laccaria, but I'm no fungi expert.  I found the color intriguing, especially when surrounded by the bright green mosses, leafy greens of various kinds, and the bright orange Orange Peel Fungi that are still thriving there.

 In this same area I found patches of a fungus that reminded me of shredded brains.  They might be in a group called Coral Fungi, genus Ramaria, but again, I'm no fungus expert.  I just love looking at them and thinking about all the work they do converting forest detritus into soil and facilitating the absorption of nutrients by the plants.

 These clusters of pure white fungi were partially hidden by a layer of pine needles, but they literally shined so I couldn't miss them.  I removed some pine needles for the photo then replaced them.  Much work left for them to do.

After checking my favorite areas around the buildings on the upper campus, I took the nature trail back to my car.  One of the first great sights along the trail was the Turkey-Tail Fungus.  There were clusters of them on the trunks of many of the oaks.  Tomorrow I'll post Part II of my walk.  The forest was dark and quiet, so I was imagining that I was being watched.  I wonder....

The Speed Bump

 Here's the photo I intended to post back on October 27 when I discovered that I'd used up all the available space on the blog for photo storage.  I said that this acorn reminded me of the Hindenburg.  An omen of disaster I guess.   I'm posting the photo here in a more celebratory mood.  It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm sleepy after a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving feast sponsored by Feather River College.  I'm in the mood to celebrate the tree from which this blog and my email address take their name.  California Black Oak.  They line my driveway and are home to many interesting animals, including the Oak Treehoppers that have appeared here often.

 Potential oaks.  Memories of holiday biscuits made from oak flour - after removing the tannic acid, of course. 

 Acorn cap which can serve as an ear-piercing whistle if you know how. 

 The tree that produces the bounty, especially in years following forest fires.  At this time of year, most of the leaves have turned a deep orange or have already fallen off.  But a few trees produce brilliant reds, oranges and yellows.  The trunks are a substrate for a large variety of mosses, lichens, fungi and crawly things.  I love California Black Oak.

Coda.

November in My Neighborhood

 During my two weeks off from blogging, I often wandered my neighborhood looking for unusual perspectives on scenes we often take for granted.  One neighbor's sunflowers had all gone to seed and most were collapsing into the soil.  This one that still stood tall looked especially nice from behind.

 A neighbor's low brick retaining wall at the foot of my driveway was beautified by a recent resurrection of the moss that had been dry and brown since early August. 

We found that the spider plant in our kitchen had become a breeding ground for fruit flies.  We decided to put it out on the back deck.  It suffered through a snow storm and several days of freezing weather only to bloom on the first warm day afterwards.  Defiance!  It earned the right to come back inside.

Wood Pile Adventures

Just a few minutes after deciding I would reactivate this blog, a beautiful blue beetle emerged from the cedar I was splitting for kindling.  It was as if it knew it would soon be on stage.  I gathered up several pieces of the pecky cedar, a kind of Wabi Sabi exhibit, and the beetle herself, and brought them indoors to my studio, also known as my dining room table.  The stick on the left shows a typical habitat where beetles spend the winter, and I'm sure my beetle barely escaped the axe to land on the chopping block intact, but dormant.  I thought it might be dead, but after a few minutes indoors it started crawling around.  Very satisfying to watch.

 Here the beetle is crawling on a cedar stick that shows the slime mold or other fungus that does the work of turning cedar into an art form.

 There are several California Black Oaks right next to my wood-splitting area, and the trunk on this one has "come alive" since the recent warm rains.  How many species can you spot in this photo? The subject chosen was the slug, but much more was revealed once I viewed the photo on my computer screen.  Click on the photo for a closer view and more detail.  The fruticose lichens to the left of the slug were a particularly nice surprise.

 Another slug on the ground at the base of the tree seemed at home among the filaments of slime mold and fir needles.  And you thought "slugfest" was a name for a high-scoring baseball game.

 After spending time beneath the surface during the recent snow storms, the large earthworms have returned to the surface to hang out beneath the boards I leave around for that purpose.  You can see the outline of the board.  I always replace it after taking pictures because something new is likely to be there each morning until freezing weather drives them underground again.

This was the first critter to emerge from the woodpile at daybreak.  It was still so dark that I had trouble focusing so the head and antennae are a bit blurry.  When I saw she was still pretty sleepy I went to the house to retrieve my camera.  After taking a few shots I was hooked then gathered all the above photos and more before getting the blog started again.  Then I went back to splitting firewood and feeling life was back to normal.

If you're in the area (of Quincy, CA) I invite you to the Plumas County Museum where I have a show of 36 nature photos with accompanying natural history notes running through December.  The museum is now open Wednesdays through Saturdays.   I also have a display on the theme of nature journaling in the Plumas County Library - main branch in Quincy - and two framed photos and photo greeting cards available at the Main Street Artists gallery on Main Street.

Watch for an announcement of my next class in Adventures in Nature Journaling, offered through Feather River College, probably beginning in late January or early February.

I'm Back!

This is a test.  First, it has been difficult for me to go for over two weeks without blogging.  In retrospect, I realize it has been an activity around which I have organized all my creative endeavors and even my moods.  Walking in the woods feels great, but bringing back memories and sharing them feels even greater.  It has also been great to have friends and other followers of this blog tell me how they have missed it and urge me to get going again.
Second, it's a test of whether I have successfully re-opened my account.  I'm actually not very adept at all with computer skills.  I feel competent as a naturalist and photographer, and passable as an artist, but I often need help to avoid embarrassing errors with software.  So, if this photo and message actually post, a little while later I will share the photos I took this morning while working in my wood pile.  Just knowing I was going to resurrect the blog was a great morale boost and I am happy with the photos I took.  Splitting wood is my entry into other worlds.

RETURNING SOON

Straightening out a few details. Hope to be back next week.