Woodpecker Holes & Mushrooms

These are the types of little things that catch my eye while I’m out and about. Woodpecker holes and mushrooms. Of course, that’s not the only things that stop me for a photo, but it’s an example of the sorts of things I notice.

Woodpecker Holes

I see woodpecker holes all the time in trees, but they’re always out of reach. These are low to the ground, and so gave me the chance to peek inside a little.

Owls

We have one little owl living by our gate. I’ve mentioned her before. Her name is Henrietta. We think she’s nesting. Usually it’s only her until there are fledglings. But of course there must be another somewhere, her mate.

Today I saw a second owl in the hole above Henrietta’s. Maybe that’s him. I didn’t have my camera with me, so I couldn’t get a photo. But it was another one of those little things that caught my eye. A totem pole of holes in a tree, with a screech owl filling the spaces in two of them.

Smells

I notice smells while I’m out and about too. It’s not just woodpecker holes that caught my eye on this wander.

The plum tree is blooming today, and the smell is incredible. Unfortunately for it, and the peaches which are also blooming, there is a hard freeze on the way in the next few days.

No peaches or plums again this year, though the plum might persist. It’s a wild one. We need to get later blooming peach trees, though.

Mushrooms

While I don’t know the names of all the fungi I see, I always stop to look at mushrooms. Here’s one I saw the other day. It’s a different one than I’ve noticed before.

Even though I did use Google lens to see what name this one carries, I’m not well-versed enough on mushrooms to trust the online identification. So I’m not going to put a name here in case it’s wrong.

There are only a few species I know well enough to say for sure what it is: oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, and morels. And false morels and false chanterelles. Add turkey tails in there, too. This is not any of those. But it’s interesting and one day it might become the subject of a painting, whatever it is.

Nature Journaling

On Sunday I’m starting a weekly or daily nature journaling club in my SKOOL community. Do join us if you’d like to participate in a group journaling experience!