I got up around 7:00 this morning and headed over to the American River Bend Park for a walk.  It was a chilly and dampish 46º at the river. I actually do better in cool weather, so I was out for quite a while.

I was hoping to find some birdsnest or coral fungus but struck out on those (might not be wet enough yet). I did find some other fungi, however. I found my first Purple Core (Blewit) of the season. I was a young one and still had a lot of its lavender color. I also found several different kinds of inkcap, some Cavaliers, Sweetbread mushrooms, and Purple- Edged Bonnets (which were new to me).

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

At one point, I came across a Great Blue Heron on a rock in the river below the trail, and stopped to get photos of it. It was joined by Turkey Vultures, a Herring Gull, a couple of Double-Crested Cormorants, and a tiny Spotted Sandpiper.

They all played musical chairs among the stones while a Common Goldeneye watch them from the water.  Very cool. I was able to get still shots and a few video snippets.

I also saw a few deer, including a pair of yearling fawns with their mom that passed the road in front of my car as I was leaving the park. The mom was being harassed by a buck who was sniffing after her to see if she was in estrus. When they had all crossed the road and were on the driver’s side of my car, I heard the doe give a low bleat, and her fawns took off in different directions. 

I think the idea that the buck would kill the fawns is a myth, although if mom was in estrus the buck might deliberately chase the fawns away. The fawns I saw were big enough, I think, to fend for themselves, but their mom was still protective of them.

I was out for 4½ hours, so was pretty tired by the time I got home. This was hike #89 of my annual hike challenge.

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Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Audubon’s Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata auduboni
3. Barometer Earthstar, Hygroscopic Earthstar, Astraeus hygrometricus
4. Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii
5. Blewit Mushroom, Purple Core, Lepista nuda
6. Bottlebrush Frost Lichen, Physconia detersa
7. Bracket-Forming Polypore, Perenniporia sp.
8. Bumpy Rim-Lichen, Lecanora hybocarpa [tan to brown apothecia]
9. Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
10. California Buckeye Chestnut Tree, Aesculus californica
11. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
12. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
13. Cavalier Mushroom, Melanoleuca sp.
14. Chocolate Tube Slime Mold, Stemonitis splendens
15. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
16. Common Button Lichen, Buellia erubescens [small black dots on wood, by themselves or on a background of white, gray, etc.
17. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
18. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
19. Deer Mushroom, Western Deer Mushroom, Pluteus exilis [heavy, dark cap and white stipe and gills]
20. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auratus
21. Dryad’s Saddle, Hawk’s Wing, Polyporus squamosus
22. False Turkey-Tail, Stereum ostrea
23. Farinose Cartilage Lichen,  Ramalina farinacea [like Oakmoss but very thin branches]
24. Flocculose Inkcap, Coprinellus flocculosus
25. Gem-Studded Puffball, Common Puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum
26. Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris
27. Golden-Haired Inkcap Mushroom, Parasola auricoma
28. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
29. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata
30. Hare’s Foot Inkcap Mushroom, Coprinopsis lagopus
31. Herring Gull, Larus argentatus [spot on bill, gray legs, pale eye]
32. Hoary Rosette Lichen, Physcia aipolia [hoary, brown apothecia]
33. Hooded Rosette Lichen, Physcia adscendens [hairs/eyelashes on the tips of the lobes]
34. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
35. London Plane Tree, Platanus × acerifolia
36. Magpie Inkcap, Common Inkcap, Coprinopsis picacea
37. Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
38. Mealy Pixie Cup, Cladonia chlorophaea
39. Milk-White Toothed Polypore, Irpex lacteus
40. Moss, Wood Bristle-Moss, Lewinskya affinis
41. Oakmoss Lichen, Evernia prunastri [like strap but with soredia]
42. Pin-Cushion Sunburst Lichen, Polycauliona polycarpa [bright orange, apothecia, close, piled]
43. Pleated Inkcap Mushroom, Parasola plicatilis
44. Powder-Edged Speckled Greenshield, Flavopunctelia soredica
45. Purple-Edge Bonnet Mushroom, Mycena purpureofusca [like little red Marasmius]
46. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
47. Rosellinia Fungi, Rosellinia sp. [a plant pathogen, looked like cement; was hard like crampballs]
48. Shrubby Sunburst Lichen, Polycauliona candelaria
49. Speckled Greenshield Lichen, Flavopunctelia flaventior
50. Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius
51. Strap Lichen, Western Strap Lichen, Ramalina leptocarpha [without soredia]
52. Stubble Rosegill Mushroom, Volvopluteus gloiocephalus
53. Sweetbread Mushroom, Clitopilus prunulus
54. Telegraphweed, Heterotheca grandiflora [soft felted leaves, yellow flowers]
55. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
56. Two-Horned Gall Wasp, unisexual gall, summer generation,  Dryocosmus dubiosus [small, green or mottled, on back of leaf along the midvein]
57. Wolf’s Milk Slime Mold, Lycogala epidendrum
58. ?? Mushroom with brown cap, tan gills and tan/brown stipe
59. ?? Mushroom with dark brown cap, white gills and twisted stipe