Yesterday morning was a grasslands day! Yahoo! I need my grasslands fix or is it just a nature fix? Whatever it is, definitely is something I need.
Frost on the pumpkin, well no but frost on the pine cone yesterday. It was 31 yesterday, however today we had a low of 45 degrees.Cloudscape at the grasslands. Of course, you do not need to be at the grasslands for this, but it doesn’t hurt.We quickly headed into the woods for our grasslands fix. It was mostly Live Oaks. The understory was fairly clear.A mighty oak had fallen, yet life continues on with fungi, insect homes and so on. Opportunities I would say for a closer examination. I thought this one looks like it had thrown its hands up. 😉
So what did we find? Here you can see the lichens and fungi.The white shelf fungus was most interesting. It appears to be weathering away by perhaps another fungus and/or insects.The underside was just as ragged looking.It took a minute or two to find that it had pores and not gills.Among the cracks, we found this Acorn and Nut Weevil (Curculio)!A close view. What a wonderful long beak!This white shelf fungus was less beat up.When I pulled the above fungus off the log, I found these tiny shiny black beetles. I placed the fungus back so they would still be sheltered from cold. So much life in a “dead” tree!
You find life everywhere. Cool.
I am sure beetle appreciated you putting its home back!