Monday, August 07, 2006

There's a fungus among us

I found this awesomely alien-looking fungus growing in the side yard. I don't know from fungus...any fungus-ologists out there who can tell me what it is?

...It creeps nearer to the house, whispering, "Feed me...feed me.."

I love it when a simple picture comes out better than expected. Since my camera is crappy and I have no idea what I am doing, sometimes the shots get overexposed like this. But I like it because the sunflower is glowing.

Look at all those yummy sunflower seeds ripening. (The black ones are the ripest)


These two shots above show the way light can make a male hummingbird's throat look red in direct sunlight, and black in less light. I like his little "peekaboo" look in the top photo.
The cardinal babies have fledged already. It's hard to believe that it only takes 9 to 11 days for cardinals to fledge! Imagine moving out of your parents home when you are less than 2 weeks old.

2 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

For a crappy camera, I'd say you do pretty well! One of these days I'll post the only hummingbird pic I've gotten. Love sunflowers - that one is gorgeous - the goldfinches get after mine right away, before the seeds are even ripe!

I don't know much about fungus (other than the kind that's growing in my dog's ears), but have you ever heard of the *dog barf fungus* - really there is such a thing and it looks like it sounds - be glad you don't have that!

NatureWoman said...

Very nice photos!!! You are my hero for being able to capture photos of a hummingbird - and cute ones at that! I love your sunflowers - they're beautiful! And nice fungus - I don't know fungus that well, but they're sure fun to investigate! I can't believe the babies are grown already! I hope you get to see them around your yard.