Aug 16, 2009 - Hooded Merganser and Mushrooms
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Here is a photo that I forgot to share with you earlier this spring. It shows a female Hooded Merganser and her flock of ducklings. Most of them are pretty obviously Hooded Mergansers; they look a lot like their mother. However, the four ducklings that have black heads and white cheeks are Common Goldeneyes. A female Common Goldeneye must have laid four of her eggs in the nest of this Hooded Merganser. When they hatched, the babies imprinted on the Merganser. So, as far as they know, she is their mother. This happens with some regularity in the world of ducks.
This has been a banner year for mushrooms at our home in northern Minnesota. I’ve been using the book “Fascinating Fungi of the North Woods” to learn about these mushrooms and to help me identify them. An especially colorful and interesting species is the Fly Amanita mushroom. Here are three of them growing in a nice looking group.
This series of three Amanita mushrooms shows how they look as they emerge from the ground. The one on the left is just breaking through the surface. The one in the middle shows the white layer called the veil. It covers the entire mushroom as it begins to grow. Notice the warty patches on the surface. The photo on the right shows one that is further along and the veil is starting to split apart. You can begin to see the orange color of the mushroom cap.
As the mushroom grows, the cap expands to a rounded shape like the one on the right. It eventually gets flat like the one on the left. Notice the ring of tissue around the stalk of the mushroom on the left. At some point the veil tears away from the cap and leaves this ring around the stalk.
As the mushroom continues to expand, the edges split apart. These mushrooms often grow under pine, spruce, eastern hemlock, birch, poplar and oak trees. In fact, they are found in conifer and deciduous woodlands all over the temperate and boreal regions of North America.
My famous hand model (my wife Diana) assisted me in showing you the size of a mature mushroom. It looks like some creature has been nibbling on this one. This mushroom species is toxic to humans. However, I found one reference that said there haven’t been any recorded deaths that could be attributed to Fly Amanita. It has long been known for its hallucinogenic properties. Supposedly, the Vikings used it as part of their pre-battle preparations to make themselves fearless. The “Fly” part of the name of this mushroom refers to the fact that ancient Europeans sprinkled it onto a dish of milk to attract and kill flies. Check out this web page. http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/dec99.html (It even has a suggestion that Santa Claus might be associated with this mushroom.)
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