Woodland at Rod's

This morning, it's back to posting more photos of fungi from our visit to Rod Handfield's acreage. Still more left to edit and post and I really must get these done. Sorry about the lack of IDs for so many of the fungi, but at least I have made a photo record of species seen.

On that day, 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. It was so overwhelming yesterday! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking, but also because of all the excitement. That night, I slept well. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with some of the identifications. For the rest, "fungus" will have to be sufficient. As usual, any IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat!