Fun with West-By-God_Virginny Fungi

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One of my new favorite places to explore, bird and enjoy the outdoors and it used to be a favorite location for hunting the Ruffed Grouse and Wild Turkey is the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia. It's only about an hour and a half drive from my home here near Gettysburg and an easy drive at that at roughly 60 miles.

Sleepy Creek is located just west of Martinsburg West Virginia via WVA Route 9 (towards Berkeley Springs) to a left onto Back Creek Road and then right onto Sleepy Creek Road (gravel) and then up to the area. Like most of the remote WVA areas to explore it's a true wilderness and lives up to the "Wild Wonderful WVA" label.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/SleepyCreek1.jpg

A detailed Hybrid Map of the Area:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/SleepyCreek2.jpg

The Ruffed Grouse was my favorite quarry back when I was a hunter and the area is managed for this species.

I had my trusty Merkle 20 gauge side by side with the straight stock (no pistol grip) and I would start many a bird that would always manage to put a tree in between us 90% of the time. But there was always that 10% that I have a wonderful Grouse dinner as well. By far my favorite of all fowl! If you've never eaten Grouse you missed out big time.

Sad to say, those days are over due to my health and my all but complete loss of interest in hunting due to today's "sometimes irresponsible" and "sometimes unethical" hunters.....


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/grousesign.jpg


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Anyway, enough of my disgust with modern times! (Bring Back My Kodachrome too)

The better-half, the pooch and I decided o go up to the area and see if we could find any migrants...No cigar on those but I discovered a mother-load in fun fungi to photograph along with a few wildflowers in bloom. I have never seen so many mushrooms in one area in my life. I wish I knew more about them and how to ID which ones are safe for consumption and the ones that were not. I have no earthly idea what these guys are as far as Id's! But they looked "cool". I marked the mushroom area on the map for those interested. So here we go!

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1101.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1101A.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1102.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1102A.jpg

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http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1103.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1105.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildmushroom1104.jpg

And this neat stuff!!!!!!

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/WVAwildfungi1101.jpg

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Here are a few wildflowers. The first is the Flat-Topped Aster (Aster tenuifolius) I believe!

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/Flat-ToppedAster1101WVA.jpg

I cannot ID this one and the little plant below it was interesting and growing in the very moist soil near the mushrooms.

Maybe a type of Wild Bergamot or aster family member! If anyone knows, I'm interested!

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/_MG_1967CC.jpg


http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/dizzyduck69/_MG_1997CC.jpg

All were shot with the EOS 5D, EF 100mm f2.8 MACRO and the 580EX.


Jim

[Steve Sutton]

do you have an uncropped shot showing leaf structure?

the second one is Chimaphila maculata--Spotted Wintergreen......has a neat flower in the spring......you'll also here it caled "Pippsisawa", (and if you remeber the "Uncle Wiggly game"-careful you'll date yourself), you'll recognize that as one of the characters...ironic since its a native herb that was used to treat rhuematism and Uncle Wiggly was called that because he had....TAHHHHHH DAAAAA...rhuematism.....

NEat shots on the shrooms......

See any Grouse?


Steve

[jckegley]

Hmmm ... Uncle Wiggly, better not forget Candyland too.

Looks like you had a nice trip Jim. I bet it's tough trying to identify the fungi. I'm not even sure how you would go about it.

do you have an uncropped shot showing leaf structure?

the second one is Chimaphila maculata--Spotted Wintergreen......has a neat flower in the spring......you'll also here it caled "Pippsisawa", (and if you remeber the "Uncle Wiggly game"-careful you'll date yourself), you'll recognize that as one of the characters...ironic since its a native herb that was used to treat rhuematism and Uncle Wiggly was called that because he had....TAHHHHHH DAAAAA...rhuematism.....

NEat shots on the shrooms......

See any Grouse?


Steve

[artsnimages]

No, the leaves were almost gone or I didn't look closely and of course I forgot to include them if they were there. I need to remember that stuff, Huh!

NADA on the Lil Drummers! Heck the time I usually see them is after I step on one and then wet my pants as it takes flight! This winter will be a good time to look for them with some snowfall.

Jim