Walk in the Woods

I went for a walk in the woods today, in the hopes that the trails I had used for snowshoeing this past winter would be clear of any remaining ice and snow, and also not too boggy, since we've had a bit of a wet spring (as usual).  I did end up having to cross a few boggy areas, but in general, it was a successful walk.  I had only discovered the trail this winter in my efforts to get out more, so it was a new experience for me to walk this trail in anything other than snowy conditions.  I was delighted with the beauty all around me in this spring season.

In particular, the trail is absolutely packed with vast areas of Cladonia species of lichen, which are commonly known as reindeer lichens.  They are an important winter food source for many small animals.  I'm not sure which species this is....there are a quite a few.

This one is Giant Cladonia (Cladonia maxima)

As you can see from this photo, there are large patches of Cladonia along both sides of the trail.

I love the mixed greens that are beginning to show in the mosses and lichens.

Some areas are almost entirely sphagnum moss species, and are wonderfully green and spongy underfoot.  You can see the blue markers on the trees that help mark the trail when the snow covers the path.

The scenery is very peaceful and I find it calming to walk here.

The club mosses are also emerging now.  

As I came to the end of my walk, I spotted an interesting critter!

I don't often see snakes on my walks.  This is a Maritime garter snake.  Totally harmless, and quite exciting to see!  

I don't think it was all that happy about being photographed, so I retreated and let it go on its way.

I then came home and managed to get my snow peas and sugar snap peas planted in my raised beds.  I noticed that I had some parsnip foliage beginning to show from some leftover parsnips from last year.  I wasn't quite expecting this harvest though!

There are lots of big ones, too!

I think there's some parsnip soup in my immediate future!

Winter Walks

 I'm not a fan of winter.  I love bright green growing things and warm breezes.  I like watching my chickens dig in the dirt instead of huddling in the coop.  I like to dig my own hands in the dirt, rather than stare morosely at my snow-covered raised beds.  Really, I just want to hibernate from about mid-December to about mid-April.  However, this year I'm trying to get outside more often and exercise, and try to find things to enjoy about the deep freeze.  Therefore, earlier this month, I bought snowshoes.  

I've been out on them a few times and it's good exercise.  I didn't realize how much different it would be to regular walking.  There is a park quite close to me that has some snowshoe trails.  In theory, they are quite pretty.  I prefer them when all is bright green and growing, but still, at least it gives me a place to go and wander.  As you can see in the photo below, there are also ski trails, and I will try to get out on my skis soon as well.

But when I sit down for a short rest and I'm faced with this...it's just not very appealing to me.  It all seems so bleak and grey and dreary.

The trails get used quite heavily, and after a few days, snowshoeing wasn't really as effective.  Using snowshoes on trails with packed snow is sort of like trying to snowshoe in your living room.  The snowshoes just get in the way.  However, I'm still going for walks.  A couple of days ago, it rained for several hours, which is quite unusual for this time of year here.  That made all the trails a slushy, icy mess, because it went back into deep freeze mode the next day.

Today I went for a walk with my yak-trax on my boots, to ensure that I didn't have any tumbles.  I've found two new-to-me trails not far from where I live that go through the woods and provide me with 2.5 km loop walks.  So I'm trying to do one or both of them at least 3 days a week.  A friend of mine has gone with me a few times and she took a picture of me looking at lichen on a tree the other day.  We have to maintain 2 metres of social distancing to be able to go on the trail together, but at least it's a good way to connect for a while.

I'm also finding lots of lichen to photograph and I've purchased a field guide to lichens to try to learn how to identify the species in my area.  In the meantime, I still take the odd photograph to record my snowy walks and try to appreciate the winter quiet.  

I like walking beside this creek, which is still running and not frozen over.  It makes a very soothing watery soundtrack for walking.

So I'm half hibernating, and half trying to get outside.  It's still something I have to force myself to do, but maybe eventually I'll start to appreciate some aspects of winter.

Lichens and Moss

It's definitely midwinter here.  We have a fair bit of snow, although not as much as I might expect for this time of year.  Still, it's more than enough!  Sometimes winter gets me down, but I'm trying to avoid that.  Today I went for a walk in the sunshine in the woods around my house.  I took some pictures of lichen and moss - things that are still growing despite the cold.  I don't know much about lichen really, but there are many different types.  The interesting thing about lichen is that it isn't a single organism, like a plant or a mushroom.  It's a combination of both algae (or cyanobacteria) and fungi, in a symbiotic relationship.  So, here are my lichens from today, along with a cameo appearance by a moss.

Since I don't know much about lichen, I can't give you a species on these.  I've posted them to iNaturalist in the hope that I might get some answers, but for now, I'm just enjoying their different forms and colours.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the small brown circles might be another lichen species growing on top of the greyish-green one.

I think this one might be called varied rag lichen, Platismatia glauca, but I'm not sure.

I'm pretty sure the following two pictures are of old man's beard, or Usnia longissima, but there are some other Usnia species that are similar..

Whoops, who let that chicken in here?  Hello Smidgen! 

I thought this was really beautiful - it's a small moss cushion that has lichen weaving through it.  An interesting specimen.

This seems to be the most common type of lichen in my woods, and I believe it is in the shield lichen class, but again, I'm no expert!

I just think they're beautiful, often overlooked life forms that are perhaps more visible in winter due to the lack of foliage and the abundance of snow.  One must look harder for signs of life!

 Often there are multiple lichens on a single tree.

It was a lovely day (for a short time) to be outside and wandering amongst the trees, but it soon clouded over and became grey and cold again.  I'm glad I went out for a short walk.

Maple Leaf

I decided to have a little bit of fun with a maple leaf that I found on the ground under one of my maple trees.  The leaves, in general, have not all turned red yet.  There are a few that are turning yellow, but this red one was probably the result of a damaged branch or other circumstances that made it turn red early.  It caught my eye, and I wanted to photograph it in different settings.  In part, I wanted to play with lens and camera settings.  Here are the results of playing with a leaf!

I took quite a few shots of the leaf on stones, especially those with interesting lichen or other visually different characteristics.

I took a few pictures of the leaf on pine trees, as if it had naturally fallen into the boughs of the tree and nestled among the needles.

I tried a picture of the leaf against the bark, but it looks a bit too contrived.

My favourite series of pictures are the ones I took of the leaf against the stones that form the wall at the bottom of my driveway.  I liked the red leaf on the grey stones with the lichen and the pine needle debris.  It makes a good setting, I believe, for an autumnal feeling.

I moved the leaf along to one of my preferred tree stumps which has a covering of lichen and moss.  I like this picture too.

The contrast of the red leaf and the green moss caught my interest, and I tried a few different versions of this.

This one captures my favourite elements - the stone, the lichen, and the green of the moss.  I think it might be the best of the bunch, but I still love the ones against the stone wall.  I'd love to know what your favourite is!