This lichen was chosen as Alberta's Provincial Lichen.

The weather forecast for yesterday, 27 August 2021, was originally for rain, and I almost cancelled out for a Fungi Foray west of Calgary. This was the first chance I had to get out and look for fungi this season, so I would have been very disappointed to miss it. Deciding to risk it, I joined a few others to go on a three-hour walk through the forest, searching for mushrooms and anything else of interest. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away.

We were successful in finding a number of small or very tiny fungi species, but there was a very obvious lack of larger species, especially Boletes. Makes one wonder if perhaps someone had very recently been through the forest, collecting all the Boletes to cook. Our leader, Karel, found one of my absolute favourite mushrooms, Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii. It was still young so did not have any of the ruby coloured droplets on the top surface. (Two previously posted photos in comments.)

Three hours of searching produced enough species to make the walk worthwhile. My photos are not going to be too interesting and most definitely not spectacular. It's always a real challenge to get photos when there is a group of people standing around the leader - some tall people, too : )

After the walk, I decided to call in at another forested area before driving home. Just a twenty-minute walk and most unrewarding. In 2019, this area had many beautiful mushrooms. The photo I posted today of Wolf's Milk slime was taken at this location. We did see some on our foray, but my photos were rather blown out.

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The weather forecast for yesterday, 27 August 2021, was originally for rain, and I almost cancelled out for a Fungi Foray west of Calgary. This was the first chance I had to get out and look for fungi this season, so I would have been very disappointed to miss it. Deciding to risk it, I joined a few others to go on a three-hour walk through the forest, searching for mushrooms and anything else of interest. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away.

We were successful in finding a number of small or very tiny fungi species, but there was a very obvious lack of larger species, especially Boletes. Makes one wonder if perhaps someone had very recently been through the forest, collecting all the Boletes to cook. Our leader, Karel, found one of my absolute favourite mushrooms, Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii. It was still young so did not have any of the ruby coloured droplets on the top surface. (Two previously posted photos in comments.)

Three hours of searching produced enough species to make the walk worthwhile. My photos are not going to be too interesting and most definitely not spectacular. It's always a real challenge to get photos when there is a group of people standing around the leader - some tall people, too : )

After the walk, I decided to call in at another forested area before driving home. Just a twenty-minute walk and most unrewarding. In 2019, this area had many beautiful mushrooms. The photo I posted today of Wolf's Milk slime was taken at this location. We did see some on our foray, but my photos were rather blown out.

© All Rights Reserved

The weather forecast for yesterday, 27 August 2021, was originally for rain, and I almost cancelled out for a Fungi Foray west of Calgary. This was the first chance I had to get out and look for fungi this season, so I would have been very disappointed to miss it. Deciding to risk it, I joined a few others to go on a three-hour walk through the forest, searching for mushrooms and anything else of interest. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away.

We were successful in finding a number of small or very tiny fungi species, but there was a very obvious lack of larger species, especially Boletes. Makes one wonder if perhaps someone had very recently been through the forest, collecting all the Boletes to cook. Our leader, Karel, found one of my absolute favourite mushrooms, Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii. It was still young so did not have any of the ruby coloured droplets on the top surface. (Two previously posted photos in comments.)

Three hours of searching produced enough species to make the walk worthwhile. My photos are not going to be too interesting and most definitely not spectacular. It's always a real challenge to get photos when there is a group of people standing around the leader - some tall people, too : )

After the walk, I decided to call in at another forested area before driving home. Just a twenty-minute walk and most unrewarding. In 2019, this area had many beautiful mushrooms. The photo I posted today of Wolf's Milk slime was taken at this location. We did see some on our foray, but my photos were rather blown out.

© All Rights Reserved

These two beautiful dogs, Ben and Maggie, always accompany our leader on our fungi forays. Maggie is the older dog.

The weather forecast for yesterday, 27 August 2021, was originally for rain, and I almost cancelled out for a Fungi Foray west of Calgary. This was the first chance I had to get out and look for fungi this season, so I would have been very disappointed to miss it. Deciding to risk it, I joined a few others to go on a three-hour, slow walk through the forest, searching for mushrooms and anything else of interest. We were so lucky that the rain stayed away.

We were successful in finding a number of small or very tiny fungi species, but there was a very obvious lack of larger species, especially Boletes. Makes one wonder if perhaps someone had very recently been through the forest, collecting all the Boletes to cook. Our leader, Karel, found one of my absolute favourite mushrooms, Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii. It was still young so did not have any of the ruby coloured droplets on the top surface. (Two previously posted photos in comments.)

Three hours of searching produced enough species to make the walk worthwhile. My photos are not going to be too interesting and most definitely not spectacular. It's always a real challenge to get photos when there is a group of people standing around the leader - some tall people, too : )

After the walk, I decided to call in at another forested area before driving home. Just a twenty-minute walk and most unrewarding. In 2019, this area had many beautiful mushrooms. The photo I posted today of Wolf's Milk slime was taken at this location. We did see some on our foray, but my photos were rather blown out.

© All Rights Reserved