Only One "Red Top" Mushroom, But Still A Nice Hike On The Last Sunday Of Summer.
We finally had some clear skies and cooler temperatures last Sunday here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I took advantage of the late Summer sunshine and visited the birch, aspen and pine woods were my families favorite “red top” or aspen scaber stalk mushrooms grow. I was hoping the recent rains would provide me with plenty of these mushrooms which I have been gathering in the woods near my home since I was a young child.
My dad thought me to identify these mushrooms when I was only three or four-years old. We would dry them and make soup for the traditional Polish Holy Supper on Christmas eve. Well my hope weren’t realized and I only found the one “red top” mushrooms shown above. 
I was surprised that there were no mushrooms growing. The only other ones I found were the poisonous jack-o-lantern mushrooms.
Although I found no more mushrooms, I enjoyed my early morning walk and noticed hundreds of spider webs glistening in the sunshine.
I saw some late summer flowers, including these orchids and 
the allergy causing ragweed
.
There were a few insects active in the cool morning air including this grasshopper and
this butterfly.
Most of the song birds in these woods have already flown south. However, I did see this flycatcher,
a few Canadian geese and
this hawk fly overhead. 
I am not certain but I believe it is a
broad shouldered hawk. 
It is now football season so I had to cut short my Sunday hike to get home and get ready to watch my Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. I never miss a game. But I was glad to enjoy the sunshine and outdoors on the last Sunday of Summer. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike. Mushroom hike September 16 2018. 
“To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall.”– Ann Patchett
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