matsjk's Journal

I thought that finding just plants somewhat dull, so I tried to spend some time looking for a few other organisms. Though, to be fair, the plants I did come across were interesting. I noticed that on some trees, the leaves were already changing colors, perhaps due to the recent cold weather. However, my walk around the reservoir was actually quite warm and pleasant. There was an abundance of small chipmunks and squirrels running around, gathering the nuts that littered the ground. In the middle of the walk, I found a few small arachnids, clinging to my clothing. I had taken a small rest on a bench, and noticed a small red mite on my pants. A few minutes later, a spider appeared on the bench next to be. It was tiny. I also realized I was starting to have a runny nose and puffy eyes, likely due to the pollen being released all around me.

While the theme of this week's nature walk was fungi, fungi were not easy to come by. I started my walk around the reservoir around 10:45 am, and was greeted by cold and overcast weather. I half expected fungi to be everywhere due to the rain yesterday, however, this was not the case. The soil surrounding the reservoir is quite sandy and rocky, and quite dry. Thus, there was little to no observable fungi growing directly out of the ground. I had to venture off the path around the reservoir and into the surrounding trees to find any signs of fungi. I found one bracket fungi growing out of a fallen and rotting tree. Soon after, I found what I thought was fungal mold growing in the leaf litter. However, iNaturalist thinks that it was in fact a type of slime mold from the family Rhizopodaceae. I'm not sure if I agree with this, because the structure is quite stringy and looks to be composed of filaments, as hyphae in fungi defines it. Finally, well after my nature walk ended, I found a cluster of wine-cap stropharia growing near the base of a tree. While this was not a part of my nature walk, I decided to include it as it was certainly fungi, and I stumbled across it as a wild specimen only two hours after my nature walk.

Today I went for a walk through the Webster conservation area. Usually when walking through a forest or on a natural trail, my focus is on my immediate surroundings, and making sure I am not getting lost or going down a dangerous trail. This time, however, I could simply walk along a trail and observe the life around me. There was a large variety of plants and fungi, which I focused my efforts on due to a lack of animal activity. The animals and insects were nowhere to be seen with a heavy rain pounding down. I saw a huge variety of mosses and other bryophytes, usually attached to the base of trees or against boulders. I snapped a photo of two members of the same genus, though they were distinct in color and shape. There was also a very strange white plant I found which is of the genus "monotropa." I did a bit of research-- it turns out that the plant is quite rare, has no chlorophyll as it is pure white, and is actually parasitic upon certain species of fungi. Crazy.