Shortly before the snow fell, I took a walk along one of Baloo's favorite trails - there were always lots of fascinating smells and he would occasionally get to startle a chipmunk or squirrel along the way. While I enjoyed the antics of the small, furry beasts, I tended to look for other interesting things like birds, flowers, mushrooms and little oddities along our way. On this particular occasion, I was looking for mushrooms. BetsyLee had expressed a desire to see more fungi here on the blog and it was a good motivation to get out on a trail I hadn't walked since Baloo was by my side.
Though I didn't see many mushrooms, I did find a cozy little den at the base of an oak tree. It looked like a very welcoming entryway with a leafy carpet leading to the door.
The walk sort of took a turn in focus and had me noticing trees, since mushrooms were in very short supply and the rapidly falling leaves made it easy to see farther into the woods than usual. I liked the gnarly growths on these two beech trees. Natural sculpture.
Most of the mushrooms I saw were either dried up or in a state of collapse. However, in keeping with the tree theme, these charming polypores were growing on a birch just a short way off the trail. The contrast between the rough bark and the smooth surface of the fungi, as well as the muted grays and tans caught my eye.
So, even when a walk doesn't go quite as planned, there's always something to appreciate along the way.
2 comments:
Those are some nice Piptoporus betulinus, known as Birch Polypore. Very nice. Thanks for taking a walk for me. :^)
You're right - even if you can't find what you set out to see, there's always something else to look at. Always.
BetsyLee
Oooh! Thank you, BetsyLee!! I hadn't managed to look that little fungus up yet, so I appreciate you giving me a formal introduction. It's nice to know there's another fungus fan out there. :)
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