by elizabeth5047 | Nov 23, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Today we are getting lots of heavy, wet snow. It’s the quiet, whiteness that feels slushy before it even hits the ground. Outings this weekend shouldn’t be spoiled though. Warming temperatures will keep ice from forming. I am looking forward to the big white vistas from my favorite lookouts and seeing the contours of the forest floor again. Plenty of turkeys have been in the woods this fall. Maybe next year I will have one from the forest on my table. I wonder if the wildlife are remembering where there is still green food, the way that I know there is green parsley under the snow in the corner of my garden. The snow covering makes it seem like a secret supply. Peace and plenty to all for Thanksgiving...
by elizabeth5047 | Sep 2, 2011 | Flora, Uncategorized |
Today I hiked Cook Mountain with some guests from Connecticut. Despite the destruction all over the North Country from last week’s Hurricane Irene, the trail and the forest in Ticonderoga were lovely. We saw mushrooms of nearly every color and shape, and it is amazing to imagine the network below the soil line if the profusion of visible mushrooms is an indication of its extent. I regret missing the mycology conference in Paul Smiths in August–I’m just not sure which of these beauties is edible! ...
![Mycelium]()
by elizabeth5047 | Apr 29, 2011 | Flora, Uncategorized |
I have found several bird nests in the woods this spring, each made from different materials. One is tiny and full of paper birch bark and moss, another full of wide grass blades and bark from a grape vine. The most recent one I found is made from an outer layer of the mycelium in this photo. The lining is made of white pine needles. This photo above shows the dried, branching hyphae of a fungus that was decomposing the log on which it was growing. The mycelium made a sturdy net of tiny black threads that acted like a basket for other nest material. After a winter with lots of heavy snow, the nest is falling apart and was probably blown from whereever it was...
![Spring treasures and crazy high water]()
by elizabeth5047 | Apr 22, 2011 | Uncategorized |
I have spent three days this week following Ralph Charles as he inventories the Lee Trust property in Westport. I’ve seen lots of hepatica and today saw the first spring beauty and a big patch of Dutchmen’s Breeches. I also found the friendly little snake and the superbright red fungus shown. More rain expected tomorrow. The lake level is 101 ft and south winds are expected tomorrow. Last night I rode the Essex-Charlotte ferry for the first time since December and the water was over the landing on this side of the...
![Kronks]()
by elizabeth5047 | Mar 29, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Sunday was a day of rest. Yvon Fortier and Eloise and I walked up Kronks through last year’s timber cut to a sunny spot perfect for napping. There is still deep snow in the shady places but warm, bare rock facing south. Eloise knows exactly how to...
