Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Woodpecker

Today I was back in Muir Woods. In typical Bay Area fashion, here we are still in the middle of Winter, but today it felt like it could have been Summer. Well, Spring at least.

I hadn't even gotten to the entry gate when I saw a drizzle of debris coming down. Looking up, there I see this Pileated Woodpecker excavating the tree bark in search for food.



The heavy rains of December and far behind us now, so the Muir Woods fungus has almost all dried up. Almost. I did manage to spot these little gems. They must be fresh because you can quite easily see the web of microscopic mycelium from which mushrooms sprout.
Right on time, the Fetid Adder's Tongue flowers are coming in. They'll be here for the rest of February.
Also saw that some of the first Trilium has appeared. It'll be in full bloom later this month and stick around until the end of March.
And of course, there's always plenty of Redwood Sorrel in Muir Woods.
It may be too dry for the mushrooms, but Redwood creek is still flowing nicely.

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