After all the exciting weather yesterday, things were pretty much back to normal in Estabrook Park this morning. I found a few pockets where the snow accumulated slightly deeper than elsewhere, was well insulated from the ground by vegetation, and/or was shaded from the little bit of sun we’ve been having lately, but those spots were few and far between, and the rest of the snow is all gone already.
One of the great horned owls also appears to be back to normal, after all the excitement on Monday. This one didn’t look very big this morning, so I’m guessing it’s the male. There were four crows cawing and flying around the tall trees beside the river at the north end, but they never seemed to focus on this owl, so he stayed put this time, and they all eventually moved on.
The rest of the birds seemed to be making up for lost time, and none wanted to sit for a picture today. Instead, check out this huge chicken of the woods mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus), which I was a little surprised to find given the time of year and the recent weather. They are expected “from August to October or later,” so I guess “now” counts as “later” in this case. Anyway, I read further that “the authors of Mushrooms in Color said that the mushroom tastes good sauteed in butter or prepared in a cream sauce served on toast or rice,” but do not trust my identification! I repeat! Do not eat this on my say so!
Finally, if I was surprised by the mushroom, I was floored to spot a moth still flitting about and thrilled to be able to track it to the side of this tiny tree trunk. The website iNaturalist thinks that it is a fall cankerworm moth (Alsophila pometaria), and if that is correct, then I shouldn’t be so surprised after all. Wikipedia reports that “these insects are called fall cankerworms because the females emerge from the soil in November, mate and lay their eggs in clusters on hardwood trees,” so she’s right on schedule. Ha!
The weather is forecast to be about the same for tomorrow, but let’s hope the critters are able to get caught up on their foraging before then and can afford to let me take a couple of pictures.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 