foraging ~

I went foraging yesterday with my daughter  ... looking for the elusive and delectable morel mushroom.

 We found a few ... but not enough!

All together we spotted around a dozen of these gems of woods.  Yum :)

BUT ... there were tons of these buggers ~ the Beef Steak aka. False Morels.  Some people claim they are edible; but they have too high of a toxicity level for me to try them.  They say you can eat them but the toxin in them stays in your body and then all of a sudden ... one bite and you can be a goner.  Nope... not going to eat these:

 They really smelled good ... and there were so many ... so tempting; but nope! NO! No! NO!!! Don't eat the False Morels!

I also had a forager in the yard munching on clover.  Mr. or Mrs.  don't know the sex because I couldn't see under the tail ... Snow Shoe Hare ... all decked out in it's summer colors of brown. In the winter months it's pure white like the snow.

During the night ... more foragers :

A raccoon  and a flying squirrel ~

The biggest forager though of the neighborhood was a big black bear ... sorry no photo.  It was over at my Mom's place (a couple forties over to the east).  It ripped the screen off her house door! Poor Momma was a bit frazzled over the whole incident.

She heard something during the night and called out to my brother who lives with her.  She thought someone was breaking into the house.  My brother came out into the living room and when he turned on the lights he saw the bear on the other side of the door.  He hollared at it and it took off and went around the house to the kitchen door.  My brother then scared it off from there.  I guess he must of smelled the hamburgers that they had for supper and was wanting one.

Ahh... the joys and thrills of living in the woods!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

btbw ~

I have a new bird coming to my feeder.  It really likes the grape jelly that I have out for the baltimore orioles.

It's a Black-Throated Blue Warbler.  Their range is southern Canada and across to Maine; but occasionally into the Great Lakes Region.  This is the first that I've seen them here in my neck of the woods.

 You can really see how it comes by it's name from this picture.  Black Throated Blue Warbler (BTBW)

I also had this little chipmunk stuffing seeds into it's cheeks.  It was fun to watch.

Just ONE MORE SEED! I know it'll fit ~

I know ... photo overload again ~ but aren't they pretty?

 Mr. and Mrs. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

... both taking turns sitting on the same branch ...

Mr. and Mrs. American Goldfinch ... same branches too.  It must be the posing branch today :)

Fly in and get your picture taken!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

critters ~

I have so many critters around ~ and I love it!  I guess that would be one of my biggest perks of living where I do ... out in the sticks in the middle of critter land:)

Sometimes I feel like Ellie Mae Clampett!!  There is always something to see looking out my window.

Sorry for the photo overload.


Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel