Category Archives: autumn

A cold but rewarding day at the pond!

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On 29 November our area had its first really cold morning of the season, dawning at 25°F (-3.88°C). I fortunately had gotten my spring bulbs and seeds in the ground a few days earlier, so I was mostly ok with it except feeling bad for the outside critters having to deal with morning frost in the coming weeks.

There were still a few very hardy flowers blooming in the yard; a few were eaten by the deer, which was ok with me. However, the neighborhood honeybees had slim pickings, which may be why I suddenly found them swarming the nectar feeder which I’ve left in place in case a winter hummer shows up!

So before doing needed grocery shopping, I stopped at a local pond. The parking area near the path to the water is in an area usually filled with birds but scarcely any wildlife was to be seen. A song sparrow briefly popped up, but it was very quiet. Finally, I heard some pecking and there was a yellow-bellied sapsucker working on a new row of sap holes in a nearby tree.

 

Walking towards the pond, I crossed a bridge over the feeder creek. Usually, this area has numerous birds but not a sound or movement was present. When I started nearing the pond, I finally spotted mallard ducks — 16 as far as my count through the trees could tell.

A pair of geese was perched on a stump, and they seemed to be just chilling out, preening, paddling and resting.

Scarcely any other birds were around; a few sparrows popped up quickly and some turkey vultures were parked in area trees.

   

Finally, I noticed the great blue heron perched on the beaver lodge, not moving a muscle or feather. Its statue imitation was impressive. I began walking back and forth along the shore, hoping to spot wildlife but the cold even had the bugs laying low.

After a while, I figured it was cold enough to make the visit shorter than usual when I was stopped by the sight of a couple new dark lumps on the beaver lodge behind dried vegetation..

It turned out to be a couple of otters — a delightful sighting to be sure even if not clear as they were far away behind dried vegetation.

After waiting to see if the otters would leave their resting spot, I decided they had settled down for a lengthy nap. As I turned to leave, I suddenly saw movement and the two otters slipped into the water, with me turning and trying to get a few quick photos.

They swam quickly to the beaver dam, crossed and dropped down to the lower swamp on the other side.

I counted myself lucky to have seen them and was pleased with this unexpected encounter. I stared at the dam hoping for some movement, saw nothing and again began to leave when suddenly a head popped up again.

To my astonishment, not one, not two, but four otters came over the dam and swam over to the far shore behind the beaver lodge. They were going fast and I only got glimpses, but it was still so rewarding to see them.

They were underwater much of the time but finally popped into view at the edge of the pond vegetation behind the lodge.

They were obviously feeding on something, but it wasn’t possible to see what they were catching.

They moved along the shoreline, swimming together and alone.

The otters must have been having considerable feeding success because the heron left the beaver lodge and began following them along the shoreline.

I tried to follow along on the other side of the pond and caught glimpses of them until they disappeared into a vegetation-heavy area of the pond. The heron kept following them so they must have been good guides to where the foraging was rewarding.

It finally became time to really call an end to my pond visit, so I left along the path which was still almost wholly silent without bird song. Back near my car, the sapsucker was still busy in the same tree working on the same line of new sap holes. The woodpecker had obviously found itself a good feeding spot and I felt fortunate, too, to have had a surprise encounter with those beautiful sleek water mammals at the pond.

        

This sighting was indeed something to be thankful for the day after Thanksgiving. It followed my chance a few days earlier to see our county’s first tundra swan on record. A friend alerted me to its presence and many people went to our county’s water reservoir, where the bird was hanging out far across the lake. Some very cool sightings to mark a holiday week! 😊

(Apologies for the somewhat blurry photos but the wildlife was fairly distant and my camera lens is no longer working optimally. But I still wanted to share the good fortune of these wildlife sightings!)

Nature Photo Challenge: Autumn colors, part 2: “shrooms!”

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One of my favorite things to spot during autumn outings are mushrooms, the fruiting above-ground bodies of fungi. The most abundant ones in our area appear to be white and ivory in color and it’s not unusual to find small “colonies” of them growing in fields and woods.

 

Admittedly, I don’t know much about fungi except that they play a very important role in the natural environment. Suzanne Simard’s book, Finding the Mother Tree, was an eye-opener for me regarding how trees communicate and thrive through use of underground fungal networks. I’m now looking forward to reading Martin Sheldrake’s book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures.

And I want to read more of the scientific writing that is challenging ideas about cooperative fungal and tree networks and cautioning us to await further studies that can show how fungi and plants may both collaborate and compete.

 

In the meantime, I just enjoy looking for ‘shrooms during my nature walks. Some of the white ones have interesting shapes that remind me of corals. Others have veins of bluish color.

   

Some of the more beige/brown fungal fruits have shapes similar to the common white mushrooms. Sheldrake has pointed out how important it is that we learn more about all of them: “They are neglected in conservation frameworks, educational curriculums, and scientific and medical research. Part of the challenge is raising awareness of fungal life and the many vital roles they play in the biosphere, of course.”

   

Did you know, for example, that mycorrhizal fungi absorb “the equivalent of more than a third (36%) of the world’s annual carbon emissions from fossil fuels – every year?”

 

 

Some of my nature-oriented conservation colleagues know something about mushrooms because they enjoy collecting them for consumption. You do need to know a good deal about them, however, to do this safely as some mushrooms are poisonous. One easily recognizable one is the fly agaric mushroom with its pretty red cap dotted with white spots.

Although I went on a mushroom walk once where a knowledgeable leader encouraged us to collect specimens which he then identified at the end of the collection period, I admittedly am not so interested in learning which wild ones are edible. The cultivated mushrooms sold in stores satisfy my culinary tastes.

 

Spotting interesting clusters and shapes during outings is fun, however, and has led to interesting conversations with fellow walkers and photographers.

 

 

The color variations also attract me.

I always find the clusters of ‘shrooms with multi-colored lines appealing.

 

It’s also interesting to know that mushrooms can be used to create vivid dyes to color natural fibers such as wool.

 

Three of my fungal finds that were favorites this autumn are shown below. Their vivid colors really caught my eye from far away and they were quite large.

I’ll leave you with a find that has puzzled me as I have no idea what it is. Several green plants were covered with these fine white filaments. I don’t know if they were produced by fungi or some type of insect; my Internet searches have not produced an answer yet. If any of you readers know what this is, please enlighten me!  And have a nice day!

Nature Photo Challenge – Autumn Colors, part 1: trees and lakeshores

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A bit late to fellow blogger Denzil’s latest challenge, I still wanted to post some photos of the beautiful autumn colors we are seeing in the Southeast USA. I ended up saving many photos for this, so this will be a 3-part blog: colorful trees, fungi and some autumn creatures and blooms.

 

Several trees and shrubs I’ve planted in my yard are quite colorful in autumn to my delight.

   

The birds (like the pine warbler above) look lovely in the maples.

The serviceberries have different hues in their ready-to-fall leaves. The largest one is a favorite spot for birds to perch while deciding whether to visit the feeders or not. (One of the tufted titmice who enjoy the feeders also takes time to preen in this tree.)

   

They also just like to stop there to rest, like this downy woodpecker.

   

The kousa dogwood is a loner (so far) and not producing berries but it is a favorite perching tree for birds.

 

A couple more colorful shrubs and trees in my yard.

   

On walks in various parks and nature reserves, the berries on trees and vines have become quite noticeable and the birds are really enjoying them.

 

When they finish with the red and black berries, they will be going for the white ones provided by poison ivy – a real favorite of theirs. Below a Northern mockingbird.

 

The color patterns on fallen leaves catch your eye when you look down while walking.

   

And the plumed plants waving in the wind get your attention, too.

Some falling leaves end up adorning spider webs.

 

The yellow-colored shrubs are also eye-catching.

I’ll leave you for now with some views of trees presenting gorgeous vistas along lakes and ponds.(Next instalment: colorful fungi!)

 

Nature photo challenge — An orange moon

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Fellow blogger Denzil’s latest “challenge” for his followers is to post a photo of the moon. I chose a photo of the super moon on 1 August 2023 as it was very beautiful.

In two days, I’ll take another moon photo if there are no clouds obscuring it since it will be 2023’s last harvest super moon! Night photography is not really “my thing,” but this will be fun. And perhaps I’ll see bats flying over my house as I did on 1 August. 🙂