By the month of May, there are Turkey Vultures all over the area north of the Great Lakes. I have seen them as far north as Timmins in June. By midwinter there isn’t a one.
This morning we saw about two dozen fly overhead on their way south.
Other birds:
Some botany:
Park views:
Today’s group:
MAILBOX
Hi Miles. Here’s a baby Barn Owl on the run. Irresistible! (photo by Dutch photographer Hannie Here)
NATURE POETRY
O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather. – Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85)
Miles Hearn
Shaggy Manes make the best mushroom soup, in my opinion. Pick them in the morning, when they look like your first picture, and cook them that evening. By the time they open up and you can see any evidence of the characteristic inky black, deliquescence has begun. At this point they are transforming into spore factories, and will soon dissolve into their own ink, and picking them doesn’t halt that process. My brother used to drive around his area, looking for shaggies fruiting on local lawns. Whenever he found a productive lawn, he’d knock on the door and offer to rid their lawn of those unsightly mushrooms. A morning drive would sometimes yield a pot of yummy mushroom soup.
Eugene, I would have been disappointed in you if you hadn’t commented on those mushrooms. As soon as I saw the picture, I thought of you!