Fungi, Lichen & Slime Molds 1

My descriptions disappeared under this and the previous three photos. They were there and then they simply vanished later! Yesterday, five of us squeezed into one small car and went to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park for the afternoon. Our weather included torrential rain, thunder, lightning, hail and even a bit of snow in some areas, LOL!! We brave souls still had such an interesting and fun walk through the dense forest there, trudging through puddles and mud, and I was thrilled to see my very first wild Calypso Orchid! I used flash for this photo (should have used it for all my photos!) but it reflected all the moisture. The light was atrocious deep within the woods, so I ended up deleting most of my 93 photos : ). We were lucky enough to see a Three-toed Woodpecker there and also a Varied Thrush (which I saw more as a dark silhouette moving in the distant trees). I have longed to see a Varied Thrush the last few years, so it was a thrill just knowing that there was one there. Thanks, David, for finding my very first one!

Another attempt at photographing some Red Tree Brain fungus, found growing on a broken branch in the Hibernaculum at Shannon Terrace. When this fungus dries out, it is barely noticeable, but when it rains or is splashed with water, it swells into these tiny, orange, wrinkled, brain-like fungi. Quite beautiful, actually.

We came across this Ochre Tooth Fungus growing on a tree branch in Weaselhead. The name suits it well : )

These were the first things that I saw when I started to explore the Maclean Pond area, off Elbow Falls Trail, yesterday.

Today, I went with three friends to explore 20 (?) acres of beautiful land in Millarville, south of the city, to discover and record some of its birds, animals, insects, fungi and wildflowers. I always find this kind of thing exciting and interesting, and it was wonderful to be invited to see such an incredibly beautiful place. Thank you SO much, Marilyn, for this much-appreciated opportunity! This mushroom was one of the new things we saw. I just liked the way the light was shining through the gills - just glad you couldn't see me flat out on the soaking wet ground, trying to point the camera upwards, LOL!

There were lots of little clusters of mushrooms at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park when I spent a few hours there with a friend yesterday. Thanks, D, for all the photo opportunities!

This mushroom was growing on a private acreage south of the city, near Millarville. Four of us were recently very lucky to get the chance to explore this area, finding all sorts of interesting plants, insects, fungi, birds and even a baby Moose! Not a very sharp image, but this mushroom is a bit different from others I've seen.

Thanks, D, for the opportunity to see this mushroom on our walk at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park yesterday. I loved the way the sunlight filtered down through the forest and hit this very spot. Not the most photogenic mushroom, but I liked the light : )

Four of us did a bio-assessment of a new area in the northwest part of the city - or, more accurately, three of us did that while I took photos, LOL! The name of the trail is Bearspaw Lasso Trail. We had an interesting experience - that of being swooped at by a Swainson's Hawk. In fact, it also swooped down on two occasions VERY close to my head while I was taking photos and separated from the others in the group. There were two of these Hawks and I guess they must have had a nest somewhere in the area. Thanks for driving us, Doug, and introducing us to this new area!