There's no question that newly opened seeds from Horse Chestnuts have the beautiful sheen of fine furniture. My elementary school had about 12 trees planted on 2 sides of the playground but there were never enough conkers to satisfy all the children.
The one thing I have enjoyed about this thread is the beauty and ruggedness of nature going about it's way and being recorded here, with memories shared from many from around the world.
They're finally doing some "rehabilitating" at our usual dog park (heavy equipment clearing the blackberries and stinging nettle) so we decided to go to Trout Lake this morning. Definitely more Autumn colors appearing...
Oh good, I can stay on topic with birds in parks - here are some wood ducks in Stanley Park at Lost Lagoon, and some raccoons on the path along the lagoon and swimming in the lagoon. When I saw some raccoons last year at the steps to the swimming pool I was in, I thought they wouldn't swim, so wasn't concerned. Ha!
We were back at the dog park this morning were is was a little foggy (more so on the river side) but starting to dissipate. One thing I did noticed in abundance were the spider webs...
@pmurphy good evening P. Your photos just make you want to go for walk and kick the fallen leaves. Dont you just love seasons. I think @Frog will be able to ID the fungi for you.
Chimaphila maculata seed capsules/fruit. Technically in our yard, but I post it here. Our yard is on the wild side.
@Acerholic , Hi D, there is absolutely no fragrance to the leaves when crushed that I can discern. Thanks again for helping me identify this one. I have posted photos of the flowers earlier in this thread. Now I know that it is a relatively rare plant, and I have made a point to protect it in the yard. (I hate admitting it, but I have removed quite a few that interfered with my backyard moss garden in previous years). The behaviour of the flowers and the seed pods is very similar to Monotropa uniflora, they are in the same family after all. Flowers point down, but after pollination, they turn and face straight up.
Hi @pmurphy - your mushroom appears to be a Chlorophyllum - other details needed to get these to species :-)
Good afternoon, as this tree is not looked after by anybody, I thought this thread was ideal. It is the Desert Ash Fraxinus augustifolia. Looking rather pretty this morning.
Club moss, Dendrolycopodium obscurum, or D. hickeyi, or both... Edit: Actually, they look more like D. dendroideum. If anyone can help with the ID...
@Acerholic , these are actually not on our property, but in the surrounding woods. I snapped some photos while walking the trails..
@Nik lovley photos wherever you took them N. But after seeing your amazing garden over the last year or so I automatically assumed!!! Lol.
And a couple of plants that are (still?) used as a substrate for growing orchids. The roots of Osmunda regalis, and live sphagnum moss. I wish I could grow tree ferns in our climate, but perhaps a very old royal fern might have a similar, but shorter appearance...
My mother sent me some photos taken when they went fishing on Bobb Lake... First 2 images are of Bobb Lake (this may or may not be the actual name of the lake as there are so many lakes in the area that the locals just give them names that never appear on any map). Second 2 images are the trees turning color, taken during the drive back home (they live on a "500" road which is essentially a logging road). The last image is of a mountain ash that she took while driving through "the Grove", or the unincorporated town of Forest Grove (population 295), which is the closest (as in 45 minutes away) "town" to her property.
@pmurphy good morning P, your mums picture of the mist on the lake is photo of the day IMO. Love them all btw.
We had another nice walk on the trails of the nature preserve next to our yard and I took some random pictures. Not much leaf color change yet... and it has been very dry, the stream is almost completely dry.
@Nik beautiful and peaceful N. You can see why the amazing wildlife you have there flourish. But the water situation must be a worry. We will wish for rain for you.
We went out to the dog park early because they are calling for rain and possible thunderstorms today. We lingered a little longer than usual and I and took some random photos of the trees and gathering clouds. I also tried my hardest (without luck) to locate the frog we heard croaking - this was a big deal to me because you don't get frogs in the city and it's been years since I've heard any.
