Not Many Mushrooms, But Some Cool Critters On A Hike With My Macro Lens.

Although I haven’t been posting on my blog these past few weeks, I have continued taking my hikes.  And I continued my search for wild mushrooms.

These photos were taken on a hike with my macro lens a few weeks ago, before the torrential rains fell on the woods of Northeastern Pennsylvania. There were only a few mushrooms growing at that time. And almost no edible ones. I only found this one bi-colored bolete. 

I still enjoyed my walk searching for mushrooms and  anything else I could find. These are Indian pipes . They are not fungi but rather a flowering plant that does not produce chlorophyll. 

I also came across  some jack -o’- lantern mushrooms. These poisonous mushrooms are named for their unique feature of glowing green in the dark. 

Even though it was still very dry I did come across a few of these critters, the eastern red spotted newt. 

I walked out about three miles finding no edible mushrooms but did encounter another harmless critter, a garter snake. 

This snake, unlike one I encountered last week, allowed me to get  close for a photograph.Snakes get a bad reputation by many folks but they are actually quite beneficial to the environment. They eat a large number of rodents that would quickly overpopulate causing problems for humans.  

I also came across this large spider sitting on a log.  

I love my walks in the woods of Northeastern Pennsylvania. There is always something to see. Some I have seen many times before, like these pretty coral mushrooms, and others are new to me.  I hope to continue my hiking, and sharing photographs of thing I see, for many years to come. Here is a a link to some more photographs from my hike. Macro hike July 2018. 

“We create a meaningful life by what we accept as true and by what we create in the pursuit of truth, love, beauty, and adoration of nature.” 
― Kilroy J. Oldster