3:00 snapshot #1101: Guided mushroom walk at Drumlin Farm with Larry Millman

On Saturday I went to Drumlin Farm to see Lawrence Millman talk about mushrooms, and then joined the guided mushroom walk.




It's been quite dry (I write this as Hurricane Sandy is ripping the trees out my window apart with 60 mph drizzle) so many of the mushrooms were dry like this withered Pholiota


Other mushrooms that were fresher tended to be very small and hidden amongst very wet rotten wood.


That includes these very very small discs of Mollisia cinerea.

100 More species #66: Red-tailed hawk

Red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis

This hawk landed in one of the Norway maples in the back yard. It missed an opportunity to size up a pit bull puppy as a potential meal by about 30 seconds. We see red-tails in the neighborhood frequently, not quite daily. More often we hear them call--but more often than that we hear blue jays imitating their call. Our neighbors who keep chickens are on constant hawk watch, because apparently the red-tails land in their yard and look at the cooped-up tastiness therein.

Red-tailed hawks are conspicuous and attractive members of the urban ecosystem, earning them a frequent spot in this blog. It was 365 urban species #45.