I procrastinated a bit today and decided to spend my outside time walking in the woods, instead of raking leaves. I did set one practical goal – that of finding some more birch bark for kindling, but my main objective was just to wander around and enjoy being outside. The weather was warm enough for a light coat for me, and no coats for the dogs. We headed straight out the back into the woods to fill up my bag with birch bark first. This was almost immediately accomplished when we came upon an old stand of birches long dead and decaying. The bark was easy to harvest, and with a few firm slaps, the organic material was dislodged from the outer bark. With that goal accomplished, I just wandered around seeing what there was to see. Here are photos taken during our meanderings.
We came upon an entrance to an underground tunnel large enough for a fox or raccoon, and shortly after that I spotted a much smaller underground tunnel. Neither one photographed well, but by using the flash I always hope I’ll find I’ve got a photo of the owner hiding down out of sight.
We ambled by a cluster of trees with evergreens spreading out beneath them. I have no idea why I am so drawn to these clusters of evergreens growing like this in the woods. There’s something magical about them. It might be because they seem to grow in sunny spots, and from a distance, it appears as if the trees had opened up to let the sun pour down on these green oases. I always head for them when I see them. I clear away any debris that’s fallen on the greens, and sometimes pull up the lower branches that get buried when the leaves and pine needles fall. Perhaps some night I’ll go in search of these spots to see if the orbs hang out here as well.
We came upon a beautiful old tree – just a stump now, about 10 feet tall. There were all sorts of fungi growing on it. Everything about this was beautiful. [If you click for a larger image, the beauty is more apparent.]
Then we wandered down by the water and took a few photos…
and then spotted a dying tree that looked as if it had been painted with thick white paint. When I got close, I found it was covered with a fungus of some sort that is quite hard to the touch, but when seen up close in the photograph looks lacey and delicate. I have since looked it up and it is called Milk-white Toothed Polypore.
Then I started spotting all sorts of fungi. The Turkey tail is the most common fungus around here (actually, I guess it’s a polypore too), but I think it is very beautiful. I found an interesting, very tiny fungi that looks like crowns, or perhaps hand puppets. [Please note that I’m pretty ignorant about what these things are. I guess they are all mushrooms, but technically, they are classified as fungi, polypore, mold, and more.]
It’s interesting how many of these mushrooms look like sea creatures, and many of them are named as if they were, such as the coral mushrooms. When you start looking at these things, they are totally captivating.
We finished the day by stripping an old Birch tree trunk that had come down in the recent overnight winds.
I really dig these Photos, 🙂
made my day!love the bark especially,what a wonderful outing… and a Beautiful day…all the Best.
Thanks,
Peace and Joy,
Laz
Thanks so much, Laz! It was a wonderful day, and that old tree was full of gifts – glad you like the bark. The dark one was without flash, and the light one with. I may have to go back there and commune.