Lmst

Ok, nature sleuths, what kind of bones are these? They were found together in the forest (Northeast US). Just over an inch in length. Also looks like they have small holes.

#bones #mystery #nature #NaturalistsOfMastodon

https://www.wired.com/story/scotland-village-spaceport-peatland/ watch for warming trends in the UK. If this is a carbon sink preserving #climate, launches in a Scottish bog will certainly cause warming. #climatechange #nature
#birders or #NaturalistsOfMastodon might be a good source of income to improve and preserve the land.

Got asked to do a mock-up of a California Golden Beaver for the California Naturalist annual service pin. Here's the original colored pencil idea that looked like a rat. The b&w sharpie drawing that fixed a couple things. Then the digitally colored one (using the official palette). I wish I could've done details, but this is only going to be about ¾"x¾" so it's already gonna have to shrink.

#CaliforniaNaturalist #beavers #wildlife #animals #volunteering #art #design #NaturalistsOfMastodon

So, who here is into iNaturalist? If you're not, you should be! If you are, my info is in my bio, should you wanna follow my observations.

I'm also organizing the Monterey Bay area 2023 City Nature Challenge, so if you live in Monterey or Santa Cruz Counties and want more info, just ask!

#science #CityNatureChallenge #iNat #iNaturalist #Naturalist #NaturalistsOfMastodon #ParticipatoryScience #Monterey #SantaCruz #California #photography #nature #Thursday #NaturePhotography

These past few weeks have been just a preview of what's to come... All these fresh rains are bringing the underground world to life! Take pictures! Bring a mushroom book hiking with you! Join a foraging group on social media!

#foraging #mushrooms #mushtodon #LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #edibles #fungus #rain #rains #winter #hiking #nature #UrbanForager #stoner #SparasisRadicata #WesternCauliflowerMushroom #ShaggyParasol #CaliforniaKingBolete #Naturalist #NaturalistsOfMastodon

A cutting board with four large porcini mushrooms and a cauliflower mushroom.

Very dirty cauliflower mushrooms. They burst through the soil at the base of conifers, such as pines or first. They almost always have numerous twigs, pine needles, dirt, and the occasional millipede; making cleaning them a labor of love. It is 1000% worth it.

A bisected view of a tall shaggy parasol mushroom. They are edible but since I volunteer here, I didn't collect it. 🤷🏼‍♂️

4 young cauliflower mushrooms in the bottom of a woven grass foraging basket. An Opinel mushroom knife sits aside the mushrooms. Fancy!

A few things I saw while exploring today.

#beaches #beachcomber #mushrooms #mushtodon #LichenSubscribe #phycology #science #iNat #iNaturalist #NaturalistsOfMastodon #algae #molluscs #fungi #forest #OpenSpaces #nature

A splayed out cluster of very vivid purple-red algae; attached at the base to a broken bunch of barnacles.

The many rust-colored layers of a Dyer's Polypore at the base of a Monterey Pine.

Me holding a side view of a Pacific Gaper clam.

An adorable, tiny Gymnopilus mushroom. Bright orange with rusty-colored spots on the cap.

Okay, also for #FungiFriday I have discovered the hashtag #LichenSubscribe and I've just gotta get in on that shit.

#iNat #iNaturalist #NaturalistsOfMastodon #CaliforniaNaturalist #ElkhornSlough #DFWS #NOAA #science #ParticipatoryScience #nature #photography #research #reserve #wetlands #biology #fieldwork #TeloschistesChrysophthalmus #FlavopuncteliaFlaventior #XanthoriaParietina #CringeHashtags #FollowFriday

Speckled Greenshield, Flavopunctelia flaventior

Xanthoria parietina, Common Sunburst lichen

Golden-eye lichen, Teloschistes chrysophthalmus

For #FungiFriday have a looksie at the time a few weeks ago when I found a bunch of Onion Earthball (#Scleroderma cepa) #mushrooms! Here's one I was documenting for #iNaturalist that *spontaneously* exploded ashy black spores all over my arm and chest (not in the face, thankfully😅).

Link to observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141276167

#science #iNat #NaturalistsOfMastodon #Naturalists #puffballs #boom #poof #ParticipatoryScience #California #Monterey #spores #FieldWork #volunteering #FollowFriday

The Onion Earthball is popped open and has sprayed spores all over my body and arms.

A fully ruptured Onion Earthball in my hand. You can see how thick the outside "skin" is. There are still many ashy black spores inside the mushroom.

A closeup of a large puffball mushroom called an Onion Earthball in my hand. It is very leathery and wrinkled.

Yooooooo ya boi is now a volunteer #Naturalist at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve! I'm officially a volunteer through the Cal State Dept of Fish and Wildlife Services and I'm hella stoked!

#ElkhornSlough #CalDFWS #research #science #reserve #nature #NaturePreserve #volunteer #NaturalistsOfMastodon #ParticipatoryScience #travieso #California #CaliforniaNaturalist #NAI #NationalAssociationForInterpretation #CertifiedInterpretiveGuide

A spotted towhee silhouetted on a fence post, singing with its break wide open.

A verdant arch of coast live oak trees above a wooden staircase.

Golden fields with a gravel road winding along into the distance. Oak trees and the Slough waters are in the background.

On a #foraging #hike today, I scored two types of oyster #mushrooms and Western Cauliflower Mushrooms. Cleaning them up and going to make some delicious #dinner!

#forager #foodie #harvest #forest #nature #rain #California #Naturalist #NaturalistsOfMastodon #cooking #fungi #mycology