Jaci Dawn

I call it “Rain. Again.”

Someday the sun will come back out…

How is it that my mind takes something like this photo of a birch tree

and turns it

and sees something…

Oh! But I’m not done yet! If I take that and paste it into the default Paint program…

Cute, but still no cigar.

I need to bring it up in my photoshop program and use the cloning tool…

Tell me: isn’t he just adorable??

The question is: how would you walk down the sidewalk there? You’d have to cross the street just to avoid walking under the ladder.

Just thinking out loud here…

I came home from work around noon today with a body full of aches. I am presently bundled up in a sweater and a jacket and the heat is cranked up and I’m still cold. Bleah.

But does it stop me from getting in my photo for the 365 days? Heck no.

No because the scrub jay was busy in the bird feeder and I sneaked some sloppy photos of him (her?).

This is probably my favorite. Just as I got the camera positioned and pressed the shutter button, the jay decided to go for a different perch!

Peeking back down at me.

It’s modus operandi is to take a sunflower seed from the feeder and then bang it against a limb to crack it open and eat it, which is what it is doing here.

There are three jays common to this area: the Steller’s Jay, the Gray Jay (“Camp Robber”) and the Western Scrub-Jay. I grew up with the Pinion Jay, but it’s range is far to the south and east of here. Jays are all gregarious and funny birds. Our local scrub-jays have been known to chase robins, dogs and cats away from their nesting sites.

The Steller’s Jay comes to the feeder, too, but he’s a lot shier. I haven’t been able to catch him with my camera.

Just thought I’d share another bird-watching moment with you.

Reflection of a cloudy sky on a broken sunglass lens.

Not like the birds need one right now, but I bought a bird bath today. I’ve always wanted one for my yard and BiMart had one for 33% off today. The last one, even. So I splurged.

It isn’t very “artsy” but I don’t think the birds care. And it is large enough that perhaps the birds will have a fighting chance against the neighbor’s cats.

I placed it out front where I can see it from the picture window, but a little to the side & away from the bird feeder (reflected in the water).

Then it rained. And rained. And rained.

But I am hopeful that there will be some hot days when summer finally arrives and the birds will be happy I gave them a bird bath.

Someday.

This is how my day looked.

So.

About that yellow goop in the woods the other day…

I got down and poked at it with a stick after I took a photo of it. I figured it was a strange fungus and I’d need to look it up in the North American Field Guide to Mushrooms & Fungi. There are some strange looking things out there in the wild.

I was really hoping for something truly unusual. And those of you who guessed were pretty imaginative. Masticated rubber chicken? Bigfoot barf? And “I think I know what it is, but gee, it really looks like it could be a chewed up rubber chicken…”

The winner is Jeanne in Iowa. It’s a stupid yellow balloon. Cross my heart. I flipped it over with a stick and there was the little end nipple. A balloon!

I’ll be mailing Jeanne a book in the next few days… Good eye!

That log in the center of the photo is coated with some strange fungus. It was sort of rubbery and the same color as healthy wood (it’s the brown stuff – the actual wood of the log is silvery grey).

It’s wrapped around the wood like a new skin, but a shiny, smooth new skin.

I found a description of Bleeding Broadleaf Crust (Stereum rugosum).

I think that could be what covers this log, but then… the descriptions all say it is a fungus of deciduous trees and I found this dead tree in a coniferous forest. That isn’t to say it couldn’t have been deciduous (alder or big leaf maple, perhaps).

I just thought the rubbery looking brown fungus was… creepy. And rather fascinating.

I can’t award a prize when only one person has tried!

Is it really Bigfoot poop?

A strange fungi?

(Read yesterday’s post for the prize. I’m giving you all until Saturday evening to respond with your thoughts.)