I must admit that find it a challenge to find photographic subjects in November. So I was glad to be inspired by Jaqueline Donnelly at
Saratoga Woods and Waterways who posted the other day about her lichen finds on a recent walk. I got my macro lens and tripod to see what I could find. I didn't go far - just along the old fencerow down one side of our backyard.
I managed to find several small patches of these small Pixie Cups along with other lichens and lots of moss on the old boulders. This one I must have got the focus just right on, 'cause I was able to enlarge it quite a bit showing the rough texture of these lichens when you look very closely.
This is a good time of year to find these, with all the leaves gone from the shrubs and weeds along the fencerow. But you do have to be prepared to get down on your hands and knees to get the picture. I used a tripod to enable a longer exposure at a slower speed, giving me more depth of field.
But the most common lichens we have are the bluish-gray leaf Lichens like these. They form patches and grow outwards slowly, usually in a somewhat circular shape, on many of the boulders.
A few of the bigger boulders have quite extensive colonies of these lichens.
This big lichen is nearly a foot across. According to the old field guide I have that includes some lichens, this looks like Monk's Hood Lichen, but there are several that look very similar, so I'm really not sure.
There was also some very nice bright green moss, but I'm not even going to try and identify this! It just looks nice, which is enough for me.
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Unbelievable mid-November weather here. Our two cold rainy days are over, and today was warm and sunny. Perfect late fall day to be outside. I got all the driveway stakes in place ready for snowblowing when the time comes. Later I walked the dog through the farm next door, where the soybean crop was cleaned off several weeks ago, and now next year's crop of winter wheat is just up 3-4" and bright green in the late afternoon sun.
Linking to:
Are we going to see a picture of the new growth? I miss being around the harvesting fields. I like the name pixie cup lichen-very fitting. We have that same lichen here too and we finally had some cool sunny days with low humidity-finally!
ReplyDeleteI love those pixie cup lichens! So cute! Glad you were motivated to get out the macro lens and photograph them for all of us to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWith all the rain our moss is really green and lush. The white raindeer lichen makes a good contrast. - Margy
ReplyDeleteAwesome job, Furry!
ReplyDeleteI think you are going to find lots of other attempts at photographing lichens and mosses on other blogs in the next few days after you've shown us what's possible and the beauty under our noses. These are excellent.
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ReplyDeleteWonderful photos ! I find this time of year one can find lots of different things to photograph like you have here , I love photographing fungi , mosses and different grasses and such as each season poses a different look to everything so many textures and colours out there still , part of the adventure is finding it and when there is frost on the ground well there you have it a world of it's own to photograph . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !.
ReplyDeleteVery cool Furry!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your week...
Cheers!
Linda :o)
What an unusual post today, FG. I had never heard of these before.
ReplyDeleteYou've captured the details in these shots beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI have not shot true macro since the 70s...andthe subject was lichens. :)
ReplyDeleteI have not shot true macro since the 70s...andthe subject was lichens. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to work on this DOF stuff!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pixie cups. I didn't know their name, but it's perfect. Great shots of some interesting macro subjects. Our weather is not so nice: blowing and raining and cold out there! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have always loved mosses and lichens. When we were quite young we lived near Scone in Scotland (pronounced Skoon not Skone or Skon) and one of our regular walks was along a sunken lane with a stony bank to one side and a great wood growing on the top of the bank. The bank itself was covered in wonderful mosses and lichens. Such fun to see them at eye level. I've never forgotten although it was nearly 50 years ago now. Everyone who took that walk with me has died now. I'm the only one left. That's a sad thought.
ReplyDeleteI think lichen is very interesting and your photos are really great. They say that lichen only grows in clean climates, so it should be a sign of clean air. I see lots of types but have no idea what the names are. In fact, your Pixie Cups cleared up a mystery for me from a while back--thanks!!
ReplyDeleteFabulous shots of the fascinating lichen. I haven't taken a single photo so far in November.
ReplyDeleteLovely variety of lichen. A,mazing how many different designs and shapes there are.
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