Spring 041215

Partly cloudy and 78°F.

It’s taken me 12 days to post this. Morel season is pretty much over, and things are blooming everywhere! I’m going to rush through the commentary – just to see if anyone is paying attention.

I walked down the sandy creek to one of my secret morel hunting grounds. Things were blooming all along the edge of the creek. We had gotten a little rain, so the water was flowing. A tiny waterfall is something you don’t see very often on this creek. On the right side of this photo is a great little plant called Spike Rush. I thought it was grass, but no.

Here’s a closer look at the Spike Rush.

Pretty neat little blooms.

I came across many little bity wild flowers, starting with the Star of Bethlehem. So perfect!

Some Yellow Wood Sorrel.

A tiny vetch. I was trying to get a picture of the butterfly that was just there a second ago…

Scrambled Eggs. No really, that’s what it’s called round here.

Yummy false garlic.

Huge fuzzy leaved Mullein.

Finally got it! out of focus, but that’s alright. Looks like this tiger swallotail was thirsty.

So many layers of sand.

I arrived at my destination and found these triplets.

Surprisingly I found very little fungi activity on this walk. I thought since it rained, I’d see more. I headed to my next secret morel location. Along the way, I looked over suddenly and saw this beautiful Blue Bird! Can’t believe I actually got a photo of it, it was so far away.

Didn’t find many more morels, and hardly any that weren’t past their prime. I turned to go home. I love this time of year, when the grass is loving the sunshine before the trees leaf out fully.

Walking up the creek I noticed in the stagnant areas there was a lot of algae activity. Creepy looking.

The edge of the creek was covered in elm seeds, redbud petals and a few other items.

This lonely male Black Willow catkin was literally the only thing in a 10′ radius. It was on the sandy creek bed below the flood zone. Nature is very determined.