Litter

On the grasslands litter gets left behind. Humans of course do it, but really the interesting litter is what you find in nature’s ground litter such as grasses and leaves.

Not sure of the person reasoning for leaving this behind? You never know what you will run across on the grasslands. Not good litter. 🙁 But at least this was interesting.

Atrichum angustatum moss is found on the ground. The dark vein in the middle is actually not a vein like in a plant but something called lamellae. The lamellae are like little fingers projecting up. And since they are close together it makes it appear like a dark vein. However you would need to see a section of the leaf under the compound microscope to view the lamellae.
Buried in the leaf litter.
The lower jaw of a feral hog.

A tiny brown wrinkly mushroom. Can you see a profile of a happy face. Of course, why wouldn’t it in the soft bed of moss. 🙂

An old paper wasp nest was tucked in the leaf litter next to a log.
Pausing to admire the wasp nest above, a tiny red mite raced across the log.

Indeed sitting in one place almost always yields additional finds like in this case a spur-throated grasshopper nymph.

A Salt Marsh Caterpillar (Estigmene acrea) was also found in the ground litter.

Stop to pause this winter to see what you can find in nature’s litter. 🙂

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Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

7 Comments

  1. Crazy human litter in the stump – makes you wonder about the story behind the things left behind.
    Likely too cloudy to see the meteor shower here on 13/14 – maybe there will be abreast in the clouds.
    Great litter reduction story!

  2. Perhaps they like to do outdoor cooking and wanted to keep their utensils handy. That is so weird. Maybe someone knows you frequent these areas and wants to play tricks on you.

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