August 6, 2010

A Walk in the Woods: Baby Bird Update & Tiny Mushrooms



I've been checking on the thrush nestlings since they were hatched 9 days ago (which you can see here). They now have feathers, soft brown patterned with a greenish yellow in elongated spots and teardrop shapes. Their beaks and open mouths (I dangled my finger in front of them so they thought they were getting food) echo the yellow of the feathers. As they were very quiet, not at all excitable, I started to worry: was mom still feeding them? I didn't see her today. Looking at the beautiful dark eye, catching the light, of this small creature, I began to think of the desire to communicate across species, with the wild.




One of the things I love about mushrooms is their seemingly––poof!––magical appearance and disappearance. There is an old pile of cut logs alongside my path, covered with mosses and small ferns. Today, after just a few days absence, I saw masses of teeny warm-tan-colored mushrooms, each with a dark spot at its center, carpeting the logs. How is it possible that this eruption of fungi happened so fast?!




These vivid little mushrooms are popping up here and there throughout the woods. With their intense red-orange color, they stand out amid the muted detritus of the woodland floor, even though very small. I can't help but be cheered by their tiny brilliant presence.

4 comments:

  1. The little thrushes look fine! I'm sure they were quiet because they knew you weren't their mama; if she weren't around to feed them they would not look this well -- and they wouldn't last a night, in that nest. This is a very beautiful photograph, too.

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  2. Susan, thanks for calming my fears, and for the compliment on the photo.

    I agree, rappel: the thrushes are adorable. Momma thrush is very sweet too.

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  3. Oh. the birds are cute! how did you manage to get a really close look to these babies? Oh my. Now, I want to go out of the house, bring my camera and have an adventure in the woods!

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