Orange! February 12, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in fungi, winter.5 comments
Lolli attempts conversation with Beaver while Mozart surveys the frozen pond.
I wasn’t out “naturalizing”. I was just out for a walk. I needed the exercise… so did the dogs. I needed to fill my lungs with fresh air. I wasn’t looking to learn anything new or to see anything all that different…
Then orange caught my eye, squeezing out from the bark of an Eastern Hemlock tree on the side of the beaver pond.
I photographed it (with both cameras)… assumed I knew what it was – Witch’s Butter – duh… and moved on.
Then I sat down to write a post about Witch’s Butter. I dug out books and surfed the ‘net… and got confused.
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First of all, the common name “witch’s butter” can be applied to more than one species of fungus. So, I was right! But the question is… what species do I have here? I dug through other pictures of orange goo I have taken over the years. I had assigned Latin names to many of these at the time I took the pictures… but now, reviewing the resources, I’m no longer sure…
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I’m no mycologist and to be honest, I’m not all that dedicated to identifying these to the species level… But as I read about the different jelly fungi, I became fascinated at the inter-relationships with other living and dead things. Some fungi feast on dead organic material, some on living (non-fungal) tissues, and still others parasitize other fungi.
I’ll give you some of the clues here, and maybe we can try to puzzle out which species is which from my photographs together!
Tremella mesenterica is found on decaying hardwood. 
According to Michael Kuo at MushroomExpert.com, T. mesenterica is parasitic on the mycelium of another fungus in the genus Peniophora which might be hiding under the bark even when you see no fruiting bodies. Peniophora are resupinate crust fungi. (I just learned that word, too – resupinate means “seemingly turned upside down”.) I don’t know what species T. mesenterica likes to parasitize… but I happened to have a picture of P. rufa, so I’m including it here. Hmm… #3 above was on a dead hardwood… Maybe that one is T. mesenterica? I didn’t see any Peniophora on that trunk, but I suppose it could be there hiding beneath the bark…
Tremella aurentia is “gregarious on downed hardwood” and parasitic on Stereum hirsutum (false turkey tail) and is described as “yellow-orange, shiny when wet, otherwise dull.” Hmm… in picture #1 above, the description is right. Those grayish/green mini-shelves could be old S. hirsutum as the normally orange stripes are reported to fade over time – and while it usually grows on hardwoods, is occasionally found on conifers. The tree was definitely still standing, however… and I THOUGHT it was still alive… Hmm… I’d still go with T. aurentia for picture #1 based on my sloppy naturalizing. (UPDATE 2/13/2010: I went back yesterday in an attempt to correct at least a bit of my sloppy naturalizing… the trees with orange goo were indeed hemlock, but they were also indeed quite dead… still standing, but dead.)
Here’s an awesome photo posted on Flickr by John Davis, which I think fits the bill for T. aurentia:
Dacrymyces palmatus is the only one of the three that is reported to live on conifers. I think my #2 and #4 above are probably this species… both were found on downed Eastern Hemlock. The intensely different shapes/textures confuse me… but then, these fungi are shape-shifters as they age, and depending on the weather conditions.
Mycologists are amazing. With over 70,000 species identified and named, they believe there could be in excess of a million more to be discovered. I suppose if I really really really cared, I’d be out there collecting spore prints, testing the fruits with various chemicals, examining bits of tissue and spores under the microscope…
But really, I was just out for a walk…
Get confused:
- Tremella mesenterica – Mushroom Expert
- Tremella aurentia – California Fungi
- Dacrymyces palmatus – California Fungi
- Stereum hirsutum – California Fungi;
Stereum hirsutum – Mushroom Expert - Tree of Life Web Project – more information than you thought was possible about fungi
Happy Midwinter! February 2, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in mammals, spring, winter.3 comments
(I hope you’ll click on all my links below to see some other interesting sites, pictures, information…)
February 2nd falls midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. While pop culture celebrates the day as Groundhog Day, for centuries it was celebrated by the Celts as Imbolc.
The name of the midwinter festival, Imbolc, comes from a Gaelic word for ewe’s milk, for at this time of year the ewes may be lactating in certain parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The festival celebrates this and other hints that Spring is starting to overtake Winter.
I plan to celebrate at work with more Snowflake Festival preparations. (Are you going to be there on Saturday?)
Here’s hoping “Phil” sees his shadow. I haven’t seen nearly enough snow yet!
Learn about groundhogs by clicking –> here.
Susquehannock January 26, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in hiking, winter.6 comments
Once a year I go to the Susquehannock Lodge near the Denton Hill Trail System to meet up with old friends and meet new ones… and hopefully to ski. (Last Year)
My favorite thing is when we carpool up to the Ranger Station (yellow pushpin) and ski down to the lodge (pink pushpin) on trails that go behind (south) the Denton Hill State Park slopes.
View Larger Map
This year, the trails were a bit fast for me, so I (and 5 others) opted for hiking. We chose the trails on the north side of Route 6. They were lovely! And perhaps because no motorized vehicles are allowed on that side of the road, we saw sooooo many signs of wildlife.
The first 14 below were all tracks in the snow. Number 15 we saw no tracks, but there was no mistaking what it was! And the rest are bird sightings (or hearings? listenings? whatever you call it when you hear them!):
fox- mouse
- squirrel
- deer
- coyote
- weasel
- grouse
- turkey
- shrew
- bobcat
- bear
- chipmunk
- raccoon
- skunk
- porcupine quills
- chickadee
- white-breasted nuthatch
- downy woodpecker
- another woodpecker (drumming)
- crow
I forgot my camera on this lovely weekend. But here are a few shots Nina took:
The following day we hiked a tiny bit on the Ranger Station side of Route 6. We added rabbit tracks to our list, also tufted titmouse and blue jay. And Tony saw a mammal running low to the ground… but it disappeared before he could get a good look. The weasel perhaps?
Irrationally Happy January 14, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in winter.4 comments
After a fun-filled day of leading walks through the woods with small children, the Audubon education staff headed for the Igloo in Frewsburg for ice cream cones. It was a perfect June day; the walks had gone well; the ice cream flavors were sublime. I looked over at our college intern who had a rapturous look on her face and said, “Karen?” And she responded, “I am irrationally happy right now.”
Irrationally happy. I so loved that phrase that it has become one of my own.
Irrationally happy. I get that way a lot at this time of year. There is something about temperatures in the upper teens and low twenties combined with fresh white powder that makes me irrationally happy.
I can’t remember exactly when I bought my first cross country skis… perhaps the winter after graduating from high school. I learned how to ski with my friend Sue and one of our practice sites was Audubon. Sue still has her wooden skis that must be prepped each time with the right color wax, depending on the temperature – blue wax for my favorite conditions. When my sister moved to Florida, I sold my wooden skis and began using her waxless skis… saves me a little time when all I can spare is an hour at lunchtime!
I usually start at the kiosk near the parking lot and follow the yellow signs. To warm up, I ski fast and steady until I get out to the far side of Spatterdock Pond. 
Then, I like to stop in the Hemlock woods. For the first minute or so, all I hear is the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. Once my heart rate normalizes, the sounds of nature wash over and refresh me. Wind through the needles. Snow falling from boughs in a soft whoosh that then plops onto the trail. Foraging chickadees and nuthatches: chick-a-dee-dee-dee and that nasal ent-ent-ent.
After this brief rest, I ski more slowly, taking it all in, breathing in the peacefulness of the forest, letting the stresses and irritations that have built up fall away. 
Sometimes I scare up a couple of deer who bound off to safety… they should have known they were in no danger from me. I cannot resist stopping to decipher animal tracks and signs in the snow – mouse, squirrel, fox, coyote. Or I might attempt to take pictures of things I find… a winter caddisfly, wingless wasp, cutworm, or spider crawling slowly over the snow.
I reach the big mowed field with the intent of skiing fast, practicing long strides, but the delicate winter weeds stop me in my tracks and I marvel that even without color they are beautiful and deserve to be photographed. The round, dark seed heads of Black-eyed Susan. The “baskets” of Queen Anne’s Lace. The empty, dried Milkweed pods that have already released their fluffy contents.
I return to my desk energized. Hopefully no one minds that my 1-hour lunch break has turned into an hour and 15 or 20… Truth is, the afternoons almost always turn out to be twice as productive as the mornings after a good ski.
Not everyone enjoys winter. In fact, most of the people I meet seem to grumble about it. As for me… it makes me irrationally happy.
More Winter Weeds January 13, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wildflowers, winter.7 comments
Tansy
Teasel
Thistle
Joe-Pye Weed
Reed Canary Grass
Winter Weeds January 5, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wildflowers, winter.5 comments
The first chapter of Donald Stokes’ Nature in Winter is entitled “Winter Weeds”. The chapter is full of beautifully drawn, minimalistic images of what our wildflowers look like in winter. Someday, I hope to be able to draw like that. In the meantime, I have my camera. And, after I took the goldenrod and burdock pictures the other day during the snow, I finally got the concept for how I could recreate those types of images!
Repeating those two…
Goldenrod
I love how you can see both ball and bunch galls in this little stand. (Hmm… I guess I’ve never written about bunch galls… that’s odd.)
Burdock
I can’t think of burdock without thinking of Ryan’s Birthday Party.
And here are some new ones…
Queen Anne’s Lace
I have rather an obsession with this flower.
Black-eyed Susan
I love this flower in late summer and fall… It ain’t bad in winter, either!… here’s a closeup:
Winterwoman Could Not Be Happier! January 3, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in weather, winter.10 comments
White Spruce
No Outlet
Goldenrod
White Spruces
Self Portrait
Annual New Year’s Day Tromp January 1, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in hiking, insects, trees, winter.2 comments
I love waking up late on New Year’s Day with thoughts of where I should take the dog for a romp. Usually Emily joins me, but she was off at a friend’s and so I headed out into a snowy, blowing day without her.
I’m not sure she was very happy with me. Sorry, Em.
As is often the case with a winter walk, the low temperature combined with wind made me feel very cold in the beginning, but as I walked, it didn’t take long for me to warm up. I headed down into a protected ravine at the bottom of which runs a creek. There are hemlocks and yellow birch all along the way… beautiful.
On the bark of one of the yellow birch trees, I found gypsy moth eggs… and also a gorgeous Stonefly nymph. I couldn’t really tell if it was a dead nymph, or if the back had cracked open to allow the adult to fly free… Here’s another picture I took a while back of a living stonefly nymph we found in the creek at Allegany State Park:
I played around a bit with slow shutterspeeds to try to capture the essence of the wind. The orange-brown leaves on the Ironwood tree were dancing up a storm…
Even though I have billions of pictures of Witch Hazel, I can never resist another.
Emily finally arrived home shortly after I did. We may go out later this afternoon or evening and see how our cross country skis are working after a long summer in the garage…
Happy New Year, everyone!
What’s That Bug? December 31, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in insects, winter.1 comment so far
So, I poked around a while trying to figure out exactly what my winter top-o-the-snow bugs were when I stumbled upon a fabulous website! It’s called…
I searched around their site for a while hoping someone else had submitted something similar to what I had seen, but I couldn’t find anything… so I decided to use their “submit” feature. A recent post on their site let me know that the authors are busy getting a book ready for publishing, so not to be sad if they didn’t get right back to me… And yet, it took no time at all for Daniel to send me this email:
While the creatures in your photographs are all similar in that they were discovered in the snow, taxonomically (and that is how we try to organize on our website) they are unrelated. We are going to split them up and post them independently of one another.
We are most curious about the first image, which is obviously a Hymenopteran, but not an ant. We did a web search of “wingless wasp in snow” and were led to a BugGuide page on Gall Wasps. Interestingly, there was an individual found in Massachusetts also walking on the snow in January 2008. It was identified as being in the family Cynipidae, but the species was not identified. Gall Wasps are most difficult to identify to the species level. The posting contained this comment from Richard Vernier: “More accurately a so-called ‘agamous’ female. Just like palaearctic Biorrhiza pallida, this winter generation contains only females, who lay eggs inside winter buds of oak-trees, after having grown-up at the roots of the same host plant.” Encyclopedia.com has a link to a UTube video of a Gall Wasp walking on the snow in Japan. We also recommend the Snow Critters web page.
While I was reading that email, a second email came in:
Your second image is of a Caddisfly, but we don’t want to try to identify
it any further than the order Trichoptera, or possibly the Northern Caddisfly family Limnephilidae. We did find a reference on a fishing website to Winter Caddisflies in the genus Psychoglypha that are called Snow Sedges. Troutnut.com also has this comment posted: “Dr. George Roemhild explained to me how he finds these winter caddisflies in February and March: ‘They crawl up on the snowbanks, but when the sun hits their dark wings they melt down out of sight. That’s how I collect them, by walking along looking for holes in the snow.’” We also found a reference to Snow Sedge on the Flyfishing Entomology website, our new favorite etymology reference page.
Your third image, the caterpillar, is some species of Cutworm.
Many thanks to Daniel Marlos from What’s That Bug? website for taking the time to identify my bugs for me… (You really shouldn’t have enabled my sloth, Daniel… but thanks, anyway!) Click over his way and send him a donation for the fine work he does!
Snow Critters December 23, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in arachnid, insects, winter.3 comments
Watch where you step!
We often think of winter as being a time when most animals are inactive – hiding it out, waiting for warmer temperatures.
Besides deer and birds, look what else we found during a lunch-time walkabout at Audubon yesterday… And they were all moving… slowly, but moving nonetheless.
{I don’t know the species of any of them [and I'm too busy (lazy?) to look them up], so if you do – please teach us!}
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