Turkey Tail Mushroom Revisited

There’s great beauty in the world of mushrooms. And this is a fungus that certainly fills that bill. Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor). Beauty beyond words.

They’re an extremely common type of mushroom in our North American forests and are also found throughout the world on every continent except Antarctica. They are wonderful decomposers not only found on dead wood but also on trees in failing health. Turkey Tail Mushrooms are often found on deciduous trees, but are also found on coniferous trees from time to time.

This blog gives no information about the edibility or toxicity of any of the mushrooms that are written about.

One Of My Irruptive Migrants

This morning nearly caught me doing cartwheels. Almost. But certainly a moment of great joy. I spotted a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). One of my favorite birds. But because they are irruptive migrants, I don’t see them every winter. Absence, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder.

This morning in the bird bath. Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Irruptive migration is when a species of bird depends more upon its food supply than on other triggers of migration. These birds are more unpredictable but generally only migrate short distances. I love that it is a toss up whether I will see Red-breasted Nuthatches during the winter, and really cheer them on. Hoping for them to come visit me.

Aposematic Coloration

Aposematic coloration. Conspicuous marking or coloring that is meant to send a signal to a potential predator that its possible prey may be at least distasteful or at most poisonous.

So many examples. A color technique used by butterflies, skunks, snakes, frogs, bees, wasps, and so many others. This butterfly, above is a perfect example of aposematic coloration. Of course, this is a Monarch Butterfly, which eats Milkweeds which contain toxins that the Monarchs store up and pass along to their predators, which make the Monarchs extremely distasteful. And that, with the bright orange and black coloring makes it a perfect example of Aposematic Coloration.

They All Descended Upon The Eastern Red Cedars

It happened today. They all arrived. The Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). All the family. All the friends and neighbors. They’re quite affable and bring along everyone. Often birds of other species too such as the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), will arrive in equal numbers, creating quite the crowd.

Both the Cedar Waxwings and the Robins follow news of what is ripening in what fields. This particular rush to the trees has been precipitated by the ripening of Eastern Red Cedar berries. These berries are loved by the Cedar Waxwings, Robins, as well as various Woodpeckers, and many other species of birds.

Green Stink Bug

Adult Green Stink Bug

Green Stink Bug (Acrosternum hilaris) surely, if you live in an area with Brown Marmorated Stick Bugs coming into your abode, day and night, SURELY you know that this is NOT the BMSB.

Nymph stage of the Green Stink Bug

The Green Stink Bug is not often seen around here, but I’ve known that it is native to this continent, so I was of the attitude, “It’s native, so it is not a problem.” Goodness, did I ever get that one wrong!

In the Biology And Management Of The Green Stink Bug, Journal Of Integrated Pest Management, K L Kamminga, A L Koppel, D A Herbert, Jr, and T P Kuhar write, The Green Stink Bug is one of the most damaging native stink bug species in the United States.

Wow. I had no idea what I was looking at.

Question Mark Butterfly

Question Mark Butterfly (Polygonia interroganationis), lives as an adult for 6 to 20 days. They choose cracks in trees or peeling bark to spend the coldest of the winter and if the weather is warm enough, they may come out for a fly-around.

That snow white crescent shape with a dot under it is why it is called a question mark. Takes a bit of imagination to see it, though it certainly shows up with no other connection to decoration of the wings. There is also a similar butterfly that is called a comma. And lo and behold its looks just like this one, but has no dot.

Red

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) eating the red berries of Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). Nuts, seeds, and berries. Favorites of Cardinals.

Phoebe in a Flowering Dogwood Tree

Look closely. In a near perfect camouflage, an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), is sitting in a Flowering Dogwood Tree (Cornus florida). Though it would seem the perfect spot for a little bird to stock up on some berries, this Phoebe feeds on insects and arthropods. They’ll also dive into water to catch minnows and other small fish from the surface of ponds. They don’t seem at all interested in these berries though.

Pawpaw Tree

The Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba), is not the winner of the category “most spectacular color in the woods” during autumn. But it does have a wonderful fruit if you can beat the bears to that fruit. Bears love those Pawpaws.

There are many Pawpaw trees here in the mountains, including ones that I’ve planted here surrounding my cabin. My main reason for planting Pawpaws is this tree is the host plant of the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly (Eurytides marcellus). A butterfly that I love to see. Not the most abundant butterfly up here but perhaps more so because of my plantings.