WEEK 3

Date: Sunday, April 17th
Time: 7:15- 8:15
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: 70˚

The woods are very different at dusk then at any other time of day, things are quieter and calmer. The birds are even less visible than usual, although I did see a Robin with a bright red chest on the way down to the spot. There are a LOT more mosquitos though.. I have no idea how I'm going to keep doing this into June, it's barely spring and I'm already finding myself swatting at the air like a crazy person every few seconds.

Someone has covered my usual space with mulch! I knew people interacted with this space but I had no idea that it was this manicured, it really changes my impression of the identity of these woods, their "wildness" seems less and less apparent every time I visit.. I found a big black beetle crawling around in the mulch. He has a glossy back that reflects a rainbow of colors when the light hits it like an oil spill.

Transitioning Big Leaf Maple Flowers

This week is particularly exciting because I can actually identify some of the plants I've been vaguely talking about for a while. I realize now that most of the deciduous trees around my spot are Red Alder. The leaves make them pretty easy to identify, they are soft and double toothed. I also know that Red Alders are more common around water sources and wetlands, and most of these trees are circling the big muddy pit that is the center of the ravine. They're really big, I'd estimate the largest ones are 40 or 50 ft tall. There is also a few Big Leaf Maple trees visible from my site. The opposite branching pattern and distinctive 3 pointed leaves make it easy to identify. Some of the flowers on the tree are in a transition period, half way to becoming the distinctive "samara" seed pods.

Salmon Berries just now starting to form

The area is covered in Salmon Berries, which makes sense because they tend to grow in shaded wetland environments. The leaves are compound and serrated, with three leaflets per branch. Some of the flowers are just begining the transition into becoming fruits, which is an interesting sight to see. I saw at least one Thimble Berry plant, with large, soft, maple-esque leaves, and thin branches that are covered in fuzzy wannabe spines (the blackberries are probably laughing.) I'm pretty sure I found an Indian Plum as well. It's hard to identify because it was a very generic looking shrub, with thin, alternate-pattern branches and boring entire leaves. But when I ripped the middle of the leaf, the distinctive stringy filaments were visible, which I'm pretty sure is close enough for me to call it. The big-leafed plant I noticed earlier growing out of the mud is definitely Skunk Cabbage.

Artist's Conk

Mystery mushroom #1

The lichens and fungi I found were very hard to identify to say the least. The only one I'm absolutely sure about is the Artist's Conk, which was protruding from a log. The mushrooms were large and wooden in appearance, with bright white undersides. The other kinds of mushrooms I really am completely uncertain about, they aren't very distinctive and after doing research there are a lot of possibilities. Mystery mushroom #1 was dark brown and had a large, circular cap that was concave like a shallow bowl, I didn't get a look at the gills because it was growing out of a log in the thick mud and I had to lean over to get the picture I did. Mystery Mushroom #2 was light brown/orangeish with small caps that were almost serrated on their edges, and very small if any stems. The gills were not very pronounced, though I didn't get a very good look. They looked absolutely delicious.

Mystery mushroom #2

On one stick in the ravine I found what I believe are two different kinds of lichens. Both are a similar pale blue color so I thought they were just one species at first, but after consulting the book I think it is actually two. One kind covered the stick itself and had broad, wavy lobes. I think it's Ragbag. Another kind protruded out from the stick in weird, alien looking fractal patterns. I think it's Forking Bone.

The last species I found I couldn't even identify as a species of fungus or a lichen. It's greyish- white with broad lobes. It looks slightly like the Pimpled kidney lichen (a very unfortunate name) but it was protruding from a fallen log like some sort of shelf mushroom.

Two kinds of lichen, Ragbag on the right and Forking Bone on the Left

Ultra super mystery lichen or fungus??????