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  I was hoping to find a few “lifers” in our trip to the Pacific Northwest. And I did! This is Pig’s Ear, a mushroom that can be purplish or grey in youth, and aging to various shades of tan. We don’t often think of mushrooms as being threatened but this one carries a Category B concern due to habitat loss. It is typically found in mountainous conifer old-growth forests. Pig’s Ear [Gomphus clavatus] #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Fungi

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  If you follow my posts you know that I’m fortunate to live in a vital wetlands habitat of Massachusetts. Part of the brook I’ve posted photos of runs under power lines that the local energy company is planning to clear cut. The trees in this area would never come close to reaching or falling on the wires. (It’s in a valley.) If you’d like to help out, there’s a petition on Change.org that addresses the issue and the impact this would have on 11 towns in western MA. https://www.change.org/p/sto...

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  This fashionable mushroom came with its own lighting and backdrop. Vermillion Wax Cap [Hygrocybe miniata] #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Fungi

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  In 2023, Moonshine crossed the rainbow bridge at age 10 just before I joined Mastodon. She was a gremlin, tugboat, and noodge all rolled into one little powerhouse. I’ve never known a cat to be so clumsy and LOUD. Most days she’d sleep upstairs and when she jumped down the floor rattled. Unlike Pippin, Moonshine liked to go outside on a leash. We would take her on short walks. She’d never get far because she’d play with everything she saw. Here she is at age 2. #Caturday

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  Mushrooms have all kinds of cool names for their various parts - pileus (cap), stipe (stem), annulus (ring), volva (cup at base) and others. But the best is the umbo. It doesn’t really give you a clue as to what it is. Unlike the ones above, it doesn’t have a more common name. It’s an umbo. It’s the little protuberance some mushrooms have sticking up from the center of their cap. Many are rounded and some are pointy like on these Rufous Milkcaps. Ummmmmbo. 🤭 #FungiFriday #Fungi #Mushrooms

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  Hmm. Either the porcupines have gotten much bigger and quicker or we’re now looking at… Bobcat Bridge? #15SecondsOfFame #Trailcam #Bobcat

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  The ocean floor on the forest floor. A type of [Ramaria] coral mushroom. #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Fungi

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  Pippin story #20. She is very missed. Age: 15 There were many things that Pippin didn’t like. - When Moonshine, her little “sister,” used to do, well, anything. Existing was frowned upon. - The kingfisher that squawked as it hunted over the brook, only 50 feet from where Pippin looked on disapprovingly. - Vegetables - At the top of the list was the automatic feeder. It meant we were leaving for the night (without her! 🙀) and that was wholly unacceptable. Improper. #PippinStories #Caturday

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  Allow me to geek out a bit - a bolete mushroom growing out the side of a dead tree, twenty inches up. You normally find boletes on the forest floor. They form symbiotic relationships with trees through an intricate underground network. At first I thought someone found the mushroom and wedged it into the trunk. Cuz you know, all those mushroom jokesters pranking Dan! 😂 Probably: Reddish Brown Bitter Bolete [Tylopilus rubrobrunneus] #FungiFriday #Fungi #Mushrooms

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  In the past 36 hours we’ve received 3.75 inches of rain. You could probably go whitewater rafting right now if you didn’t mind hitting a large rock every 20 feet. #WoodedStream

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  This made me smile. #MushroomMonday #NatureArt

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  A new wildflower to the yard. It’s a Phlox, but I’m not 100% sure of the species. Probably Smooth Phlox [Phlox glaberrima] #BloomScrolling #Wildflowers

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  Since yesterday afternoon, we’ve had 4+ inches of rain. That green chair is normally 8 feet from the edge of the brook. That tree is not usually in the water. The brook has risen over 20 inches. Fortunately our house is on the side of the brook where the land is much higher. Might be spending some time searching for that chair tomorrow. #WoodedStream

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  #SilentSunday

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  For your weekend viewing pleasure, may I present, “South End of a Northbound Bear.” #15SecondsOfFame #Trailcam #Bears

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  I don’t know who this little Bark Beetle jokester is, but I don’t need you leaving scary snake drawings in my firewood! I have plenty of the real things! 😳 #Insects #Beetles #NatureArt

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  The sea urchins of the garden. Globe Thistles #BloomScrolling #Pollinators

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  Oh, the indignity! One day you’re the cutest little mushroom in the yard. The next, you’ve been chomped by a brute and slimed by a slug. #MushroomMonday #Fungi #Mushrooms

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  Russulas are a genus of fungi that comes in cool colors. ID characteristics include: 1. Usually 2-4 inches high with a circular cap that’s one color. In this case, purple. 2. Most have white/cream gills. Stems are usually white, perhaps with a flush of color similar to the cap. 3/4. The color of many can be peeled to expose white flesh. I’ve been to craft fairs where artists have made dyes from them. IDing down to the species is much more difficult. 🔬 #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Mushtodon

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  Baby Porcupine of 2023 now has her own Baby Porcupine to teach the finer points of eating my yard. 🤗 #Porcupines

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  I love the fashion style of some “Green Frogs.” It’s like a kid started coloring a frog and quickly ran out of green crayons. Northern Green Frog #Frogs

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  A new native wildflower in the yard. Fringed Loosestrife [Lysimachia ciliata] All the blooms were facing down so I had to rig a photo with one facing up. #BloomScrolling #Flowers

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  When I get near her nest, the Eastern Phoebe lets me have it with a blood curdling cry, a terrifying bobbing of the tail and a ferocious fluffy head. I hightail it back to whence I came and she has scared me off again. 🤭 Such a cutie! I mean cutthroat! 🤗 #Birds

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  #SilentSunday

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  I order my firewood early every spring for 3 reasons: 1. To avoid the heat of summer. 2. To stack before the snakes take refuge in the wood. 3. To finish before the phoebes return to the spot they’ve been in for 7 years. I was unable to get my delivery until now. My biggest fear is not the sun or the snakes, but upsetting the babies in the nest. The female will chide me with the sweetest cheeps. Upon hearing her banshee like scream I pretend I’m terrified and run away. This pleases her. 🤭

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  The Woodland Faeries have their own fireworks.

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  Round 2 of “Porcupine vs Small Tree” seems to have ended in a draw. #Porcupine #PorcupineBridge #15SecondsOfFame

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  Ah, the ol’ “under a birdhouse vertical sploot while waiting out the downpour.” #Squirrels

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  I rarely take panoramic photos, but… ROOT! #Trees #WoodedStream

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  After the rain. Varnished Polypore, Hemlock Reishi [Ganoderma tsugae] #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Fungi