The Nature Thread

Part of the fun of exploring the old sites that I'm obsessed with is finding non-mineral related things of interest. Whether it be snakes, wildflowers, frogs, fungi or birds, everything interests me. So I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures of flora,fauna etc. that we encounter in our daily or weekend travels.

I'll start with two mushrooms that I encountered during a rough hike to an old mining site in Oxford, New Jersey yesterday. Bonus points if you can identify the species. Oh, and if your story has an unhappy ending, like, the snake rushed me and I beat it to death with a crowbar, please leave that out.:D Just thinking of prior threads.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2011 10:22AM by David Bernstein.

Great topic David!

You are so right, part of the fun going out collecting at new sites is the surprices you may encounter. I add a rather old picture, from a trip to Persberg area, where I found this orchid growing next to an old iron mine, I don't know which mine, but it wasn't the one I was looking for - Harstigen...

Platanthera chlorantha

When ever we are out we always look for birds. We have bald Eagles near us and love watching them. We saw a Great Horned Owl in the spring.
Our little group of rock hunters have a strong respect for old stuff - like that smokestack at the Golf course, David !
Great pic ! I have long thought about doing a pic filled tread about that spot.
Old buildings old train tracks old relics are always a plus.
Bugs dont bother me and I'm pretty much invulnerable to poison ivy - the only part of " Nature " that gets me is the heat.
-Tom

David, your shrooms look very much like Amanita rubescens (an edible fly agaric).

Funny, when I go out collecting minerals in spring I always keep my eyes open for potentially good mushroom places to be re-visited in summer and fall :).

Peter, nice orchid!

Here's one of my best catches from Dunkelstein forest: Boletus pinophilus; cap diameter 15cm and in perfect condition.



Cheers

Harry

Beautiful picture, Peter! Long ago, when I grew Orchids I could probably have told you what species that was-it looks very familiar. No longer.

Here is a nice shroom that looks like a flounder.

Harold, that is an amazing shot. It almost looks like an extension of the rock, that is it looks like the shroom is made of rock. Keep em comin'.(:D

2006 Dunolly, Victoria. Gold detecting failure & resident of woodpile next to tent. A dusty Redback with two egg sacks.

Redback about to climb on lens.

Not my nugget.

David, that first 'shroom photo looks like Panther Cap (amanita pantherina).

Here's a critter I stumbled upon a few years ago, at Talisker Bay on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. I came round a boulder and there it was, no more than 12 FEET away (4m). I thought it was injured at first, as it was writhing about on the rocks; but it was merely drying it's fur after a dip in the sea! It then lay back and sunbathed and I kept on taking photo's until my battery died. Then I snuck away and left it to it. It made my day.

Cheers, Mike

That is a beautiful Boletus Harald, shroom collecting is as exciting as rock collecting for me!

Morels~!







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2011 04:41PM by John Truax.

Michael Wood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> David, that first 'shroom photo looks like Panther
> Cap (amanita pantherina).
> Cheers, Mike

Mike, I am not so sure footed with N-American Amanita species - there are considerably more than in Europe - but that reddish tint on the cap is usually a good token for the Blusher (A. rubescens), Panthers almost always are conspicuously and uniformly brownish between the white velum remains even when young.
Funny thing is, here in Europe we have more edible Amanita species than poisonous ones, but one would be wise to only take them home and eat them when he is a mushroom expert :).

BTW - also nice catch of yours.

Cheers

Harry

Wow, John! I am still waiting for the day I find morels.

Cheers

Harry

David Bernstein Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Harold, that is an amazing shot. It almost looks
> like an extension of the rock, that is it looks
> like the shroom is made of rock. Keep em
> comin'.(:D

Thanks David. Here's more:
mushrooms

Harry

Michael,
Are you sure that critter was "only" sunbathing, or sleeping off a wee bit too much Talisker Scotch?? :)o

John,
As I'm sure you know, there is nothing finer than fresh morels sauteed in butter and garlic, then placed beside a nice steak; mmmmmmm!!!

Pretty mushrooms!!

Those pictures are one of the reasons why is it good to self-collect. Last year I took a photo of this nice and big caterpillar (Deilephila elpenor, Linné 1758) crawling in the site in Valeč (famous opal-AN, hyalite site). The measure is my kids hammer...

regards,
Aleš.

Aleš Tomek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Last year I took a photo of
> this nice and big caterpillar (Deilephila elpenor,
> Linné 1758) crawling in the site in Valeč
> (famous opal-AN, hyalite site). The measure is my
> kids hammer...
>
> regards,
> Aleš.

Aleš, what a beauty. I have found the moth but never the larva. Hawkmoth caterpillars can be quite spectacular, and yours is actually one of the "smaller" species :).

Cheers

Harry

Unfortunately, I never developed a taste for mushrooms, only the big hunk of rare beef that comes with it.

Cool picture, Mike. Would love to have scratched his belly.

Paul Brandes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John,
> As I'm sure you know, there is nothing finer than
> fresh morels sauteed in butter and garlic, then
> placed beside a nice steak; mmmmmmm!!!

Mercy!!!

Harry

digging in one pegmatite in CT I found a 7in spotted salamander under a boulder. I put the boulder back, let the salamander crawl under it, and moved to a different spot.
-Rowan

Hi all,

Very interesting topic.
To be honest, when I go collecting, I always look for other things than minerals first because they can be found and observed without digging. Just look around before puting your nose into the ground. You will be amazed.

I was in Cornwall in May and found this very big firefly female ( Lampyris Noctiluca ) on the road.
Never saw a big one like this. I have some in my garden but are only the third of this giant.
My wife's hand for scale. Kenidjack valley.

I am fond on mushrooms and mostly the wild ones. I find often some but never dared to eat them.
I am looking for a natural guide who can help me identifying them.
Morels with butter and garlic are divine>:D<

Take care and best regards.

Paul.

This is a great thread.

On my way to explore the Koksnes prospect grimstad norway got distracted by the insect life in a wild ( vivendel ) honeysuckle bush that grow in the coastal regions here.

Took this image of a fly and many others, needless to say I never got to see the prospect, maybe this year.

Regards george

PS, camera canon powershot G11