What to See This Week

Bleeding fairy helmet is a fitting mushroom for the week of Halloween. This species of Mycena has a reddish hue but what really sets it apart from other members of the genus is the red liquid it exudes when cut.

Shrimp of the woods is the result of a bizarre fungal interaction. They look more like packing peanuts on the forest floor than an edible mushroom. Shrimp of the woods begins as honey mushrooms, a common fall-fruiting mushroom. Honey mushrooms get parasitized by Entoloma abortivum changing their appearance and texture.

The overall color of the forested areas is shifting from greens to yellows as fall continues on. The timing and vibrancy of fall color is a result of several factors including sunlight, temperature, day length, and moisture.

We are starting to see some color in the Bald-Cypress Swamp. Bald-cypresses are one of a few species of deciduous coniferous trees that can be found at The Arboretum. Over the fall their needles change to a rusty orange color before dropping off the trees.

Some of the most reliably colorful trees year after year are the Autumn Blaze freeman maples in the main parking lot. Freeman maples are a hybrid between red and silver maples with red maples being well known for their bright red fall color.

Although most blooms have subsided aside from the mums or an aster here and there, the Witch-Hazel Collection is just getting started. Our native common witch-hazel has begun to bloom and will continue for several weeks. Come back in January or February to see even more of the collection in bloom!

While the winter sparrows have started migrating back to The Arboretum, we are also seeing more of our year-round resident sparrows in the Bird Watching Garden as well. This is a song sparrow, one of our most common sparrow species to run into throughout the year. During the breeding season they are hunting for insects, especially when feeding their young. Like a lot of other birds, their diet in the winter shifts to more seeds as less insects are available.

Dark-eyed juncos are quintessential winter birds in our area. Their arrival is often associated with the arrival of snow, giving them the nickname snowbirds. They spend the breeding season in the boreal forest but will be with us from now until May! Juncos are a member of the sparrow family and share feeding behaviors. You can find them scratching and picking at the ground for seeds and insects.