more mushrooms

With the morning weather back to oveercast and northeasterly windy, bird activity was light. As has been the case in the past few weeks, the American Goldfinches has been the most numerous and active of our avian friends, switching from their beloved thistles (which are almost finished) to the Pilewort and now Baccharis, both of which also have feathery wind-blown seeds. A few woodpeckers and the usual jays and crows round out the picture. Except for one speedy smallish falcon -- just a silhouette against the sky but undoubtedly a Merlin hunting for goldfinches.

Fall asters, white and blue are coming in. And more mushrooms: Marasmius oreades or Fairy Ring Mushroom and a species of Cortinarius with a bulbous stem. Cartinarius is one of the largest genera of mushrooms (said to contain over 1000 known species); fortunately it is not a area with delectable edibles so, even though the bulbous bottom offers a clue, I am not going to try to pin it down as to species. The Marasmius is a different story. It is a very good edible and quite common in grassy areas. The fairy ring character is not a good ID factor as it doesn't always grow in fairy rings (and there are other mushrooms that also form grassy circles). Marasmius is easily recognizable by its distinctive tan cap with a little brownish umbo on top; the shape of the cap also gives it another English name: Scotch Bonnet (not to be confused with the hot pepper of the same name). Another feature of the mushroom is its ability to recover from drying out and that means they are easy to wash to remove any dirt and puff then up to their original shape. The stems are thin and tough and have to be discarded before cooking.   

Eric Salzman