dandelion

dandelion, 6 months ago to random

Late fall is draining the world of color, leaving only texture behind.

Dead blades of windswept grass, their golden color fading into gray against a blurred gray background.
The remains of the Giant Yellow Hyssop vaguely resemble spindly, multi-tiered candelabras with dark brown candles. They stand out against dry grass and the sky
Queen Anne's Lace leaves delicate clusters of seed pods amongst the dead grass but very little color - they have already turned a silvery gray.

dandelion, 5 months ago to random

A rare bout of November rain turned dusty earth colors into rich shades of brown ... #FungiFriday

dandelion, 5 months ago to random

Just saprotrophic fungi doing their job... Somebody has to break down that dead wood!

#FungiFriday

Roes of papery mushrooms ears growing on the bark of a fallen tree.

dandelion, 28 days ago to random

I used to think it was a strange kind of cicada or grasshopper - but it turned out the relatively high-pitched and steady trills we hear in late spring are the mating calls of American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus).
#Toads #Amphibians #Herps

The same two roads after I disturbed them. The larger one on the left is facing the camera. Its face is lighter brown than the rest of its body, and the throat white and spotless. The right toad shows its warty, dark upper side

dandelion, 5 months ago to random

A beautiful cosmopolitan adds some color to the winter gray forest: Turkey Tail Fungus. It grows on deadwood, breaking down lignin (the substance that makes wood so hard). While not of culinary value, it contains polysaccharides of interest and is used in herbalist practices around the world.

#FungiFriday #Trametes #TurkeyTail

Layers of turkey tail fungi cover an old log as densely as scales. Shades of various bluish grays dominate, interspersed with sind brown and white edges.

dandelion, 5 months ago to Cats

#SilentSunday #Cats

dandelion, 9 months ago to Mushrooms

Today's #FungiFriday could come straight from the set of a Studio Ghibli movie - tiny white pinwheel mushrooms growing on an old oak leaf and a delicate looking earthball that might release a cloud of spores any moment now.

#Fungi #Mushrooms #Mushtodon

A small white porous - almost mesh-like looking ball shaped fungus with a hole at the top. Earthball (Scleroderma)

dandelion, 10 months ago to random

#SilentSunday

dandelion, 1 month ago to random

Wild turkey mating season is here...

The same tom in profile taking a short break from the peak of his display - his feathers still puffed up and spread out but his shape still resembles a bird more than a giant sphere.

dandelion, 9 months ago to random

There are several species referred to as "hummingbird moths" due to their large size and hovering flight patterns. These are two North American examples - a Snowberry Clearwing and a White-Lined Sphinx.

#Insects #Moths #Pollinators #Mothtodon

A large moth with a thick body and wings with a black, beige, white, and pink pattern hovering and feeding on lavender flowers.

dandelion, 2 months ago to random

Where there's marsh, there's turtles! #MarshMadness

dandelion, 8 months ago to random German

Zum #InsektenSamstag Groß und Klein: Eine Feldwespe (Polistes spp), von einer winzigen Schlupfwespe (vermutlich) umschwirrt. Die letztere entdeckte ich erst bei der Nachbearbeitung des Fotos - sie ist deutlich kleiner als auch nur ein Auge der Feldwespe. Die Vielfalt der Natur bringt mich immer wieder zum Staunen!

#Insects #Wasps #Invertebrates #Pollinators #Biodiversity

dandelion, 9 months ago to random

Something for #Mosstodon today although it's not a moss at all but just as cool! Like mosses, liverworts don't have a vascular system and spend most of their lifecycle as gametophytes with a single set of chromosomes. If we humans did that, our eggs and sperm would grow into independent organisms who then would do the mating and growing babies instead of us.

#Moss #Liverworts #Wetlands

Liverwort sprawling on a moist wall at a drainage ditch.

dandelion, 1 month ago to random

Little stalked puffballs auditioning for a cameo in a Studio Ghibli movie

#FungiFriday

The same puffball from a lower angle, a second one in the background.

dandelion, 10 months ago to random

A few days of rain in our otherwise extreme drought has all kinds of fungi sprouting from moist deadwood... Jelly fungi are especially common right now, mostly White Kelly Fungus and Jelly Tree Ear, but in very moist forest hollows I've discovered some Witch's Butter, too.

#FungiFriday #Fungi #JellyFungus

An irregular shape of golden yellow lobs and curls on a dead hardwood log. Likely a species calles Witch's Butter.
Clumps of off-white jelly-like lobes growing from dead wood (White Jelly Fungus)

dandelion, 1 year ago to random

What birds do when you aren't looking: Female Redwinged Blackbird practicing her jumping skills.

#Birdwatching #Birding #Wetlands #Birds

dandelion, 1 month ago to random

Woodsy Thyme Moss
#Mosstodon

Different view across the same patch. The Gametophytes stand thinner here so sing of the leafy green gametophytes can be seen in the gaps.

dandelion, 6 months ago to Birds

A very shifty looking fellow was casing our house yesterday... In the end, his gang just picked a few buds from our magnolia and then invaded our neighbor's gutter instead 😅
#Birds #BackyardBirds #Waxwings

The bird (a Cedar Waxwing) shown fully from the side. The gray, taupe, and cream shades of its plumage blend so perfectly that they look airbrushed. The smooth coloration is offset by a white-edged black eye mask and a narrow, bright yellow band across the very tip of its tail.
Two Waxwings are picking through the litter at the end of a roof gutter, another one watches them from a branch above.

dandelion, 6 months ago to Colorado

At first glance this plant of subalpine wetlands looks rather unassuming but a closer look reveals small but stunning flowers: Alpine Mitrewort (Pectiantia pentandra).

#FloweringFriday #Wetlands #NativePlants #Colorado

Closeup of a couple mitrewort flowers looking like sets of circular antennae against a dark green background.
A group of mitrewort plants- roughly heart shaped dark green leaves with clusters of small light green flowers emerging from it. They grow in a deeply shaded, moist setting.

dandelion, 6 months ago to random

A whole miniature canyon world emerges in the cracks of the dried-up lake mud... Fringed Heartwort (Ricciocarpos natans) grows in shallow water and damp silt. Despite its appearance, it's not a moss or lichen but a liverwort. #Wetlands #Liverworts #Mosstodon #LichenSubscribe

Frontal view at the inner side of a crack in the lake mud with the green Heartwort thalli clinging to it like plants to the rocky side of a canyon
View into the depth of a mud crack. It resembles a forking canyon with rocky tops and green vegetation inside

dandelion, 5 months ago to Birds

LBBs* are underrated!

*Little Brown Birds
#Birds #Sparrows

A Song Sparrow clings to the thin reddish branches of a winter-bare dogwood bush.
A Harris's Sparrow in a thicket of dark twigs.

dandelion, 11 months ago to random

Zum #Insektensamstag ein Kleiner Kohlweißling (Pieris rapae) auf Loesels Rauke (Sisymbrium loeselii). Beide Arten stammen aus dem eurasischen Raum, sind also in Nordamerika relative Neulinge.

#Insects #Invertebrates #Butterflies #InvasiveSpecies

Der selbe Schmetterling auf gelben Raukenblüten mit geöffneten Flügeln.

dandelion, 28 days ago to random

The Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) is a butterfly magnet in spring. It was introduced from Asia to North America and used to prevent soil erosion but unfortunately turned into an invasive species.
#InvasivePlants #GreatPlains

Small cream or pale yellow flowers hanging in dense clusters from a branch like tiny witches hats with four-pointed brims.
Closeup of the just opening flowers of an Autumn Olive branch.

dandelion, 7 days ago to random

#SilentSunday