Over hill, over dale, we have hit the, ah, muddy trail. The weather on Easter Sunday was very pleasant, and after some yard work, my husband and I went on a short hike in a nearby forested park. Our main purpose was to practice using our new Rattler thermal imaging scope.
My husband bought this for us as a Christmas present after I mentioned I could be a more confident hiker if I were aware of bears or cougars around us on the trail. We were able to practice sighting and photographing birds on our short hike, while also discovering features of the scope that we need to learn more about.
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| Owl nesting box |
Heated objects show up as yellow and orange. In the nesting box here,you can see what is probably a sleeping owl. The photo at the bottom of this page reveals a junco bird on a tree branch.
Besides using the scope, I looked around for flora and fungi. These purple flowers are Erythronium revolutum, commonly known as the Pink Fawn Lily, Mahogany Fawn Lily, or Coast Fawn Lily.
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| Witch's butter fungus |
On several dead logs I found jelly fungus, commonly known as witch's butter. They aren't toxic, but neither are they considered delectable as the link indicates.
I also found some unusual mushrooms nestled among a pile of rocks. 😀
We got a lot better at capturing wildlife with the scope. Surely we won't miss a puma or bear...or Bigfoot when we visit the Olympics at the end of May! 😮
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| Junco sitting on a branch |
