Lichen

When we arrived this week, the rain gauge was frozen solid.

The pond was ice-free but crystal clear. We saw three newts swimming in the muck below. The mosture from the wet medow makes beautiful ice formations on the vegetation, something I’m always trying to photograph.

We started with a little poker. (Simon doesn’t love that we call this job assignment playing poker, perhaps because he’d rather actually be playing poker.) Sadly, we were missing Juniper this week, but our new system is easily adaptable for whoever shows up each day.

There was no chance of rain, but I was quite pleased to see every explorer dressed in weather appropriate gear. Not an explosed pair of cotton pants among them.

On our way to Plot #3 we saw something surprising: a ring of mushrooms emerging from the ground around where we had a small campfire. Did a change in soil temperature trigger the mycelium to create fruitbodies?

Simon’s Forest Science Project focuses on lichen, and today he asked the group to help him collect as much ground lichen as we could find within the bounds of Plot #3. We had discussed earlier what the protocol would be, and we gave it a try. Reality is always a bit messier than idealized plans. Still, we found a lot of lichen, mostly attached to down branches.

Some worked to remove lichen from the bark of large branches. Soon we realized there was too much for one sitting, plus fingers were starting to freeze.

Some went back to retrieve the wheelbarrow and clippers, and we loaded up all the branches that still needed to be processed.

It’s hard to spend much time with our field notebooks when its either raining or freezing. I suggested we light a fire in the lodge, eat lunch in the warm, and spend some time talking about water quality and creating data tables.

For most the loft was more fun than working on data transfer. We made some progress, but the task I gave them was more challenging than I expected.

I guess there was some pent up energy after that hour or so we spent inside doing book work- because somehow the next activity became tree felling.

All the trees were dead, and the larger one has been on my mind for a couple years now. If it fell the wrong way it would hit the tarp and the tables. So, I supported the enthusiasm for turning this hazard snag into some forest floor habitat. I was quite impressed by Gavin’s focus and determination on the project.

Simon took home a good amount of lichen to sort through.

And I offered to help. Turns out removing lichen from sticks sitting at a warm table is way more enjoyable than trying to do it in the forest with frozen fingers.

And even more fun was sorting and photographing them under the microscope! Stay tuned for updates and results from the lichen project. I think it’s going to be fascinating.

Until next time…