'Shrooms and other Fungi

Where would this world be without the decomposers, those life forms that dispose of all the dead things. As much as we may not like to think of it, every living thing will eventually succumb to the grim reaper.

The longest lived plants are the giant redwoods and bristlecone pines, Pennsylvania’s own box huckleberry colony which is estimated to be 8,000 years old and an aspen clone in Utah that's estimated to be 2.6 million years old. But few plants, even trees, see more than 200-450 summers, and they will all eventually succumb to old father time.

Why isn’t the world covered with dead trees, and corn stalks and fallen leaves? Thanks to the decomposers the dead things gradually disappear; thanks to the animals and insects, nematodes and bacteria, and most of all the fungi, those things disappear. Disappear really isn’t the correct term, those dead things are transformed and their molecules and atoms incorporated into other living things.

Some of this fall’s fungi, almost all decomposers –

As a result of our changing climate, this fall has been exceptionally dry with few fungi developing their fruiting bodies. So there were few mushrooms to be found, these are the best I saw in the Big Woods.

Thank you fungi, all of the estimated six million species on earth. You do good work.

Painted Leaves

October is the month of painted leaves …

                                                Henry David Thoreau

While not literally true, Henry’s concept was certainly true. As the shortening days cause the formation of a corky abscission layer where leaves’ petioles join the twig, the leaves’ green pigment (chlorophyll) dies revealing pigments that were there all along – except for the red pigments which form as the chlorophyll breaks down.

The brightest autumn colors occur when dry, sunny days are followed by cool, dry nights. But each species of tree has it’s own schedule and some individual trees deviate from the schedule. By early-November most trees are bare of leaves, the exceptions being young oaks and beech which often hold their brown and shrivelled leaves until early spring. 

Bryan Pfeiffer, a biologist in Vermont estimates that "125 trillion leaves drop from hardwood trees in Vermont each autumn, weighing about 100 billion metric tons." Each year leaves turn color and fall throughout the northeastern and northcentral U. S. and adjacent Canada, enjoy –

Although the leaves’ colors this year weren’t as spectacular as in previous years, the were still absolutely beautiful. Soon the painted leaves will fall and the show will be over until next fall, so enjoy them before they’re gone.

Set 3

Many of those of us who use camera traps call the cameras’ locations by the old fur trappers’ term “sets”. Over the years that I’ve had camera traps the locations are noted by calling them Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, etc. It just so happens that Set 3 has, over the years, been consistently productive both in the number of photos and videos as well as the variety of species that appeared. 

Recently I removed the camera trap in anticipation of hunters scouting before the big game seasons. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons I may not put a camera trap back at Set 3. Here are videos taken during the summer by the camera trap at Set 3 – 

There were many more videos of squirrels, cottontails and deer that weren't worth including.

The piebald (leucistic) white-tailed doe that appears several times in the video is now eight years old. She first appeared on camera as a fawn in 2016 at a different spot, she's had numerous fawns over the years none of which have been piebald. Although her pattern has changed somewhat over the years, the doe is easily identifiable by the distinctive pattern on her left hip and the dark strip amid the white on her tail –

Did you see the white-footed mouse being pursued by the short-tailed weasel? We'll never know the outcome. However, many predators undertake 8-10 attempts for every time they're successful, that's why there's still an abundance of squirrels, rabbits and deer at the same spot we see eastern coyotes and bobcats.

At the Window Well

Several tube-type bird feeders hang from the eaves of the house, one of which also happens to hang over a window well – a steel semicircle that holds soil away from the basement window and allows light to enter.

As birds use that feeder the hulls often wind up down in the window well, where they’re a nuisance to remove. So a plastic well cover was purchased and placed over the window well.

The cover was in place until the morning I found it moved partially off the window well. Thinking it might have been moved by a recent strong wind – the plastic cover was very lightweight – I put a good sized piece of oak on the cover.

Two days later it was moved again – yet another mystery to be solved. What would be most likely to have moved the cover: raccoon, opossum, skunk, bear? A camera trap would reveal the culprit, so I put one where it would have a clear view of the window well.

But the best laid plans … Of course, once the camera was in place the cover wasn’t moved again. In any case, here are videos of the visitors at the window well –

 

Three different striped skunks (each identified by it’s distinctive striping), a raccoon, white-footed mouse and eastern chipmunk fed beneath the feeder, but the culprit in the case of the moved window well cover remains unknown.

Speaking of skunks, a week or so before the moving of the window well cover, at 11:00 pm H had heard high-pitched squealing and screeching outside. She called me from the living room and, after turning on the outside spotlights, we saw two striped skunks locked in combat –

The battle lasted over ten minutes until the combatants separated, the larger, and apparently the victor, disappeared behind the garage while the other slowly walked away.

 

 

There was none of the foot stamping and scent spraying by which skunks defend themselves from predators. Although I’d never seen a skunk fight before, apparently they’re fairly common as males defend their territory – females aren't at all territorial.

Hawk Watch

Mid-September is the peak of the fall broad-winged hawk migration as thousands of them make their way to winter quarters in Central and South America. Sometimes they follow the ridges of central Pennsylvania, riding the waves of air sweeping over those ridges; often and on days with little or no wind they ride thermals of warm air rising above fields or other open areas and then glide to the next rising thermal.

One hazy September morning I joined a number of other folks at a north-facing overlook in hopes of seeing a few of those migrants. And see some we did, first a few broad-wings riding the breeze and the thermals rising from the lowlands below as they followed the ridge in a southwest direction –

There were a couple of immature red-tailed hawks mixed in the parade of migrating broad-wings –

After a while two ospreys joined the parade, going up and over the ridge –

Followed by a sharp-shinned hawk in it’s typical flight of four flaps and a sail over and over again –

All the while there were broad-winged hawks going over, here two juveniles and an adult –

 

 

Far out from the ridge, rising on a thermal of warm air, were some broad-wings and two adult bald eagles, one of which gradually worked its way closer –

They were barely out of sight when what should come along but a juvenile bald eagle –

The final bird of the day also happened to be the closest to the overlook, it was a male kestrel, our smallest falcon –

The sightings were well worth the few hours I spent at the overlook, it’s a great spot not too far from home. Now it’s October when the red-tailed hawks head south on north winds, I’ll be there – and in November when the cold north winds carry golden eagles south.