Horsetails

Equisetum arvense at Wildcat Creek.  Some people call them horsetails.  Photo taken December 16, 2015.

Link to Equisetum arvense:

Link to Equisetum arvense:

Link to Equisetum arvense:

Wildcat Creek runs clear in December

Here's a view of Wildcat Creek looking from the high trail at Clegg Garden, December 16, 2015.

Notice the water is clear and the level is low.

Link to water levels on Wildcat Creek:

Small mushroom growing on fallen twig

This mushroom found growing on a fallen twig buried in the leaf litter, at Clegg Garden, Nov. 24, 2015.   I don't know what it is but I'll start a guess that it is a collyboid fungus, based on the cartilaginous stem and white gills.  Possibly Clitocybula lacerata.  I'll revise this post if I get a better determination.

Link to Clitocybula lacerata:

Link to Clitocybula lacerata:

American toad

Toadus the toad (Anaxyrus americanus) was hopping about Clegg Garden.  Well camouflaged while sitting on the dirt.

Toadus hiding alongside the house.

Photos taken Oct. 12, 2015.

Link to American toad:

Link to American toad:

Running strawberry bush in fruit

Running strawberry bush (Euonymus obovatus) here is showing its colorful fruit.  This is more like a vine that runs along the ground rather than a bush.  Find it along the trail on the east-facing slope that leads to the Wildcat Creek overlook.

Photo taken Sept. 30, 2015.

Link to previous post on Euonymus obovatus:

Link to Euonymus obovatus:

Link to the range maps for Euonymus species in North America:

Oyster mushrooms

Some oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) on a fallen log in a ravine at Clegg Garden.  Photo taken Sept. 30, 2015.

Link to Pleurotus ostreatus:

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia) on high ground in the woods at Clegg Garden.  Photo taken Sept. 20, 2015.

Link to Solidago caesia:

Link to Solidago caesia:

Link to Solidago caesia: