Fall Fungi

September is a little late to find much fungus, however, it continues to lurk in the wooded areas and long the trails. I hope not to bore visitors with all the fungi photos, but there is such a variety in style and color. Here are a few recent finds from the conservation area between Eagle Ridge and FishHawk Blvd.

The largest find of the day, about 7 inches diameter.

The smallest find of the day, less than 1/4 inch diameter.

There will be less fungus to be found, even though the season remains rainy. It is not always the newly sprouted that is interesting, but the nearly gone. This snail-eaten mushroom was found next to the sidewalk at the entry of Osprey Glen.

More photos recently submitted by residents!

 

Diane Steinbach met up with a black and yellow argiope, Argiope aurantia, these are common throughout FishHawk Ranch.

Greg Dean got a few shots of another critter that is plentiful in the area,  the sandhill crane, Grus canadensis 

Kannan Deivasigamani submitted some recently taken macro photos. The wasp is a cicada killer,

Sphecius speciosus, which are the large wasps that dig holes at the edges of our driveways and sidewalks. They paralyze cicadas with their sting, pull them into the burrow and lay an egg on it.

More fungus photos! It is growing everywhere and you can smell it in the wooded areas.

 We seem to have fallen into the typical Florida Gulf Coast weather that most people are familiar with: hot, humid, afternoon showers.  Unfortunately, the recent showers seem to be in the mornings and evenings, too! If you are a fungus watcher, that is good news. Homeowners and visitors who walk along the miles of trails in FishHawk Ranch will notice an almost countless variety of fungus.  Be sure to take your camera when you walk, and pay close attention to the sides of the trails. Never know what beauty might be lurking.  Please do know disturb any of the fungus, some are poisonous and it is wise to leave it as is. Others are harmless and deserve to be left for the next person to enjoy. The problem is that most of us do not know the difference.

Resident Diane Steinbach has been outdoors regularly with her camera. With all the recent moisture in the Tampa area she has noted that, "the fungus is amungus!"  Evidently the grasshoppers are among us, also. She caught a beautiful shot of an eastern lubber.

Photos submitted by resident:
Diane Steinbach

 Typical scene in the conservation areas in FishHawk Ranch

Brown anole flashing its dewlap

 Mature gopher tortoise

 A section of the many miles of walking paths that wind

 through the community.

Little blue heron, Egretta caerulea

 puffball mushroom, believe it to be Lycoperdon marginatum

If anyone knows the variety of any of these, please let me know!
All these are from the wooded areas of the community.

Eastern stinkhorn Phallus revenelii