Elegant Stinkhorns, continued

Well, now they have the gray/black caps and look like they're being eaten. The caps contain the new spores. Bugs eat it and spread the spores to new locations, so that we'll see them again. Next year? Next week? Next rainstorm? No idea. Unlike seeds, spores are quite unpredictable about how long they stay active, when they grow, etc. They haven't been studied as much as seeds have been studied, and they are more varied. A mushroom aficionado named Terence McCenna (sp?) spent years trying to figure out what the necessary conditions were - water? pressure? heat? - and gave up. Apparently each species is different. So, Mary, maybe we'll get a lot more when/if the hurricane hits and maybe we won't. Will definitely keep an eye out. I feel sure, with almost no factual basis whatsoever, that the glorious biggest-one-day-rain in history got water down to deep spores and encouraged this magnificent growth that we're now seeing.

Cooler morning, lots of exercisers out, taking advantage. Geese looked like they were playing baseball in the Parade Ground. Also, a great soccer game going on. Usually, there are some pick-up soccer games going on, using half a field each and little portable goals. Today there was one game on the whole field,with uniformed players and some great kicking going on. Also head hits, chest hits, etc.

Fishing line hanging from a tree into the water, near the beach where the Swan family now resides. We were concerned about their getting caught, but saw Martin from the Prospect Alliance and told him about it. Next thing, he's out in his boat, waving the line at me! Well, I think - we'll check tomorrow, since there were several lines, only one hanging into the water to be dangerous.

Sweater days and Snow Goose

Brisk and breezy and a sweater day in the park, at least for the dogs. So many small dogs in their winter wear! The hot pink sweater on the little gray dog is actually insulated. Missed a shot of a navy mohair cable stitch number - the dog was just running way too fast.

JJ of course, is growing her own sweater. Her fur is starting to look quite shaggy, although it's only about halfway grown in since the summer short cut. Even the swans are spreading their wings to provide a sweater effect. And those long haired collies and sheepdogs that we see finally look dressed for the weather.

Another sign of winter: the bird that I thought was a visiting white duck turns out to be a snow goose! They live in the Arctic in the summer - Northern Canada and Alaska, and fly south in the winter. They mate for life, so I suspect our visitor is quite young, being a singleton. I thought it was a duck because the neck is not particularly long. Long neck = goose, short neck = duck. That's how I know the difference. Actually, I only learned that a couple of years ago - never had the good birding skills. Anyway, he/she/it hangs out with the ducks. Yesterday and today it was in the Lullwater with mallards (see picture). They were sunning themselves on a nice big branch in the water. I tried to sneak quietly down to the water and get a close picture, but they all swam to the middle. They may have also been attracted to the man feeding the birds. Does anyone read the "Please do not feed the wildlife" signs?

Another sign of approaching winter: looks like they are preparing to put up the tennis bubble house. Seems so soon!

The Parade Grounds were absolutely full, hundreds of people. Must have been 30 teams of kids playing and practicing - soccer, rugby, football. So cute to see the football players - all those boys with matchstick legs and giant shoulders (the pads).

So many pictures today, so I'm using the small size. Remember: clicking on them makes them nice and large.

Spring has Sprung!!

Gorgeous day and the first day of spring. It seemed like half of Brooklyn was out in the Park today. The road was so full of cyclists, runners, walkers, skaters, etc., that we kept to the woods. Since it was Saturday, we went all the way across to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket for our fabulous bacon and a couple of foccacios. Daffodils blooming on all the little hillsides. There was a turtle sunning itself on a log in the Lullwater. Three people fishing in different places,. They catch and release, but I hear rumors that there early morning fishers who keep and eat. Not Recommended!! Assorted horse-back riders. Dogs galore in all 3 meadows. There was a triathlon being held. Ber and I speculated as to what the third sport might be, since there is no swimming anywhere in Prospect Park. Traffic dodging? Taxi-hailing? Getting through yellow lights before they change? I finally asked one runner - a fairly slow one, I didn't want to interfere with anyone's winning time. Run, bike, run. Doesn't sound like three sports to me, but I guess they have to make do.

Since I am still suffering from the fall (bruised butt and strained hamstring), I was quite slow, and the c. 4 miles that we walked took its toll. Why does walking slowly with some sore muscles make you so much more tired than brisk movement? Makes no sense to me. But we did come back later than usual. Interesting to see what happens after 9 when the dogs go home. Long Meadow had several pick-up ball games - baseball and soccer. These aren't official fields, just a big, long (as the name indicates) meadow. Nethermead had a huge frisbee game going on. This is not just throwing frisbees, but looks to be a frisbee soccer game. Is this a new sport? Is it or will it be in the Olympics any time soon? Looked like fun, and was being played by men and women - no gender separation. Always a nice thing to see. Peninsula meadow became a huge green tot lot - at least a dozen parents with children, strollers, some balls and such, all engaging in that free play that is supposedly dying out across America. And I realized we no longer have to be concerned about the water-fowl going hungry. The lake was lined with family groups on blankets, tossing bread, crackers, apples, cereal, everything.

Looked like Paradise, but unfortunately there is some trouble in Paradise. Thursday or Friday morning there was a huge pile of animal intestines by the side of the lake. Someone sent me a picture of it, but I haven't figured out how to get it here yet. Parks Dept. was notified and sent someone to clean it up. There were things in the lake too, which turned out to be a bunch of chicken heads. Doesn't bode well for the cleanliness of the lake! Not that children go in much, but they put teir hands in, and dogs go in to swim, and of course water fowl and turtles live there. The thought of the bacteria that might live there is a little scary.

You wonder the Parks Dept. doesn't monitor these things more closely, especially since there are fines of $1000 and up for this kind of dumping - might help the city close the budget gap!