…another march madness episode.

Mushroom Madness

I didn’t think I could top finding mushrooms growing in a Feburary north country winter but photographing them in snow is a new high for me.

I found these on the same Elm tree the Feburary batch was growing on.

Velvet Foot Mushroom – Flammulina velutipes

I know it’s yellow but this is to the best of my knowledge:

Orange Jelly – Dacrymyces palmatus

This too was a warm Febuary day discovery but I caught it growing this time. It’s on a dead Hemlock branch which makes me believe it is orange jelly but I wasn’t aware it grew like a slime mold. Doubts on the identity are now stuck in the cobwebs of my mind. Is this a slime mold or a mushroom? It certainly looks like snot.

Moss Madness

I love this rock. It’s about a quarter mile from the house but I swear someday I’m going to bring it home. It’s going to be tough to do. I need to find someone dumber than I to carry it.

Moss Rock Garden

The Fire Moss is ‘blooming’.
As far as I’ve observed, fire moss is the first moss to form spore pods as the snow melts.

sometimes it doesn’t wait for the snow to melt

Ice Madness

I did make it to the river. Almost. I was kept at bay by the high water level. I’d guess it’s about 6 feet higher than normal.

I have more ice photos but this is enough for today.

Porcupine Madness

This is actually the last shot I took of them. I wanted to open with an obvious pair of porkies.

The first photo I took is not very revealing. It only shows the tip of the second porcupine’s tail.

Not a snuggle bunny

Tomorrow I’m headed to Lampson Falls on the Grasse River. While I’m in the area I hope to find some wintergreen. I’d love to catch the red berries against the snow. (fingers crossed)

Tolerating pollution and broad pH ranges Fire Moss is fairly common.. If you see a patch of moss that has a red haze over it you can be pretty certain it’s Fire Moss. The stalks and spore capsules are red – brown and seen from a shallow side angle a patch of moss has a red haired look. Looking straight down the stalks almost vanish.

Moss and lichens can hardly wait for the snow to melt before they go into their reproductive cycle. After melting and refreezing (who knows how many times) snow has turned to ice trapping a few Fire Moss spore capsules.

Fire Moss – Ceratodon purpureus

For a closer look click the image above for a 1024 x 768 sized version. The thumbnail is linked to a 1680 x 1050 wide screen image. Use either as desktop wallpaper if you like.

Just another Felt Lichen – Peltigera polydactylon surrounded by icy snow. This may be the last of the ‘on ice’ lichen photos of the year. The snow is nearly ‘no more’.

…And now for something completely different:

I found a puzzle today. It was well packed in fur but I suspect it’s missing a few pieces.

Owl Pellet

The ‘Awakening’ photo contest at Gardening Gone Wild is still open. The deadline for entries is 11:59 pm Eastern time on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Go check out the details so you can enter too.

The Fire Moss and Ice photo above is my entry. Now show me yours.

Mysteriously formed holes and moss growing on a rock. I don’t have any idea how the holes were formed but they did give me some other ideas. First thing I thought of was to bring the rock home with me. Trouble is it’s nearly a mile away and still frozen in place. I’ll have to hike back with a pry bar and sled. It’s not the only mossy rock on my list either. I better get busy before the snow melts and get my treasures home before it’s too late.

Another idea that popped into my head was to start selling these miniature rock-moss gardens. But on second thought it’s not so practical since the postage would be a real deal breaker. It’s too bad, there are countless perfect little rock and moss gardens out there and I’m pretty sure there are just as many people that would appreciate having one of their own.

One of the holes made a perfect sunken moss garden

click image for a larger size (1024 x 768) for a closer look or to use as desktop wallpaper

Maybe it’s just me but when I look at this photograph I’m reminded of goose heads. These spore capsules haven’t lost their operculum (basically a lid that covers the top of the pod) and might make you take another gander at them.

I came across two creatures that looked like they had a tough winter this year. Both their coats looked the worst for wear.

Winter can be tough on a Porcupine. This one survived by eating bark from it’s Maple tree abode. It looks a little ratty sunning high up in a crotch of the tree but at least it made it through the tough winter.

Poor Skunk Hard hit by the sudden automotive depression it never had a chance to raise a stink and left this world scentless.

Off center questions:

Would Moss Hole and Spore Head make good cuss names in polite company?

What could be more uncomfortable than a porcupine in your crotch?