A Year in the Forest

Once again it is moist and quiet.  I saw a little more animal activity than normal today.  I saw some Juncos (birds) playing in the trees and the Blue Jays were calling and flying around.  The crows were noisy as usual.  The squirrels seemed more active than normal.  I some them both on the ground and in the trees.  There is one particular very tall Black Walnut tree that must have nuts ripe now.  It seems every time I go by there is at least one big crash as a nut falls plus many smaller ones when the squirrels drop nut hulls.  Most of the nuts never reach the ground they are hulled and collected by the squirrels in the tree.  More than once I have passed under a tree and seen nut hulls dropping.  I did see something I have never seen, a Sparrow was sitting on a log eating on the mushrooms there.  And, of course, I saw the deer as usual.

All told we got about an inch of rain, much needed.  The forest is much quieter when it has rained.  I can hear the leaves falling now.  The crows and squirrels, however, made enough noise that it was far from quiet in the woods.

With the rain and cloud cover the temperature last night was almost the same as the high today.  With the rain and warmth I expected many more mushrooms to be up.  All I saw was a new Sulphur Shelf and some new Honey Mushrooms busting out.  There was also some as yet unidentified mycena mushrooms on several dead logs. 

I encountered a deer, it is getting to be a daily occurrence.  As usual the deer snorted at me before it ran off.  I did not get a good look at it because it saw me before I saw it but it sounded like the Buck I have seen earlier.  Its getting scary that I can identify the deer by their snort isn’t it?

I am seeing more places where the ground has been rooted up where some animal was looking for something.  Wonder what it is.

Rain, we got over 1/2 inch and its still raining.  When I started on my walk, the rain had let up.  The forest is quiet when it is wet, a special kind of serene.  I had barely started when I came upon a deer, which promptly snorted at me and ran off.  I wonder what the snort means?  I expect that tomorrow the rain will have caused the fall mushrooms to sprout, it will be good.

About half way into my walk, it started to rain again.  In the forest, this is not such a bad thing, most of the rain does not reach the ground.  It is noisy, however, and masks much of what I go into the forest to listen to.  Somehow I misplaced my normal hat, I wear a hat to keep the spider webs off my face, and the had I was wearing did nothing more than disperse the big drops into a fine mist.  Not much help.  I tend to look at familiar things as I am walking – a particular stump here, a tree here, a log there, a long lasting mushroom, etc.  With the rain my glasses were getting more wet all the time and it was hard to either look or listen.  Suprisingly, it was less slippery than when it had been dry.  I don’t understand everything I know.

Another dry fal day. The fall colors are starting to show more every day.  It looks like it will be a good year for the leaf colors. 

I encountered one of the many Eastern Box Turtles in our forest today.  This is a rather small one, but like all turtles likes to hide.  Here are some pictures of it trying to hide in the leaves.  Sort of like the proverbial Ostrich it probably thinks it is well hidden.    We often find them in our yard and have to mow around them.  In Indiana the Eastern Box Turtle is protected because of diminishing numbers.  You wouldn’t know it around here.

It was another cool morning and I took extra time and went some places I normally don’t.  Actually I was looking for another Hen of the Woods mushroom but did not find one.  The trees are starting to turn colors, the maples and sumac are turning red. I did notice that the Bear Tooth mushroom I found and harvested earlier in the summer has come back.  I will go get it when we have finished the Hen of the Woods.

The most memorable event, however, was an encounter with a deer.  It saw me and snorted as usual and then ran up the same trail I was on.  I took out my camera and began taking pictures as I moved slowly closer.  It seemed as if the deer was fascinated with the flash.  Here is the first picture I took.  You can see the deer way down the trail, look for the two eyes looking at you.    Here is a picture just before the deer bolted.  You will notice it is much closer.    And notice the white tail as she runs away.