I love gathering all the different things that I find at my site. In this arrangement I have displayed two different types of cones.Fir and Pine. All were on the ground, which means they were done maturing and ready for the wind or animals to spread them around. Conifers have been around for 200 million years using their unique cones as a way of reproducing.

 

These are feathers from an eagle, owl, crow, woodpecker, blue jay, and goose. 

I watched and listened to the pair of Douglas cedar squirrels ran as fast as they could across the grass and into the cedar tree they have their nest in. I left them alone and when I came back around. I was curious about the nest they had. I wandered over to the tree, a big cedar, and I saw something I've never noticed before. The pair was running up and down the tree peeling bark off the tree and taking it back, making a nest about 20 ft up the tree and close to the trunk. There were shredded marks on the sides of the trees where they were peeling off the bark. They were quick about it.

The trail from bottom to top 

A mouthful of cedar 

drawing

My drawing of the wild cranberry bush

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Creatures

I came across this spider making his/her home for the day. It's name is Cross Orb Weaver spider. this tends to be a passive animal, it is difficult to provoke to bite—but if it does, the bite is just slightly unpleasant and completely harmless to humans.The adults are found from late summer through autumn. In late September, the females leave their webs and seek out protected locations to deposit between 300 to 900 eggs. The eggs are enclosed within a cocoon of yellow, silken threads, shaped in a hemisphere. Typical egg deposition sites include under the bark of dead trees and in cracks and crevices.

The bee that didn't get away.

A beautiful sunny day for spinning a web

cross orb spider.

Video

Decorate

I decorated two pieces with things from my site. I fell like I'm very attached to my site, after spending all day exploring every inch of the area to find just the right items. I had a lot of fun, which was the point. I wish I could say I built the little bird house as well. It was given to me many years ago. I have held onto it, hoping I would find a good project for it.

During this time of creating this project my old dog Belle died. She was 20 years old and the sweetest dog ever. I really wanted to dedicate something of this project to her. My site that I have been visiting for this project is a place that I took her for walks everyday. She swam in the lake here and visited almost every bush and tree more than a few times. I can't go to this site without thinking of our time together here.

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Plants

These are two different Native shrubs of the Pacific North West, from the same genus"Viburnum."  One is deciduous and the other is evergreen. They are growing on my site close to each other. The cranberry has red berries and spring bouquet has blue berries. 

Viburnum trilobum and Viburnum tinus

Of all the plants I saw and photographed this is my favorite. It's name is  Viburnum trilobum the GUELDER-ROSE  or as it sometime called in America, high bush cranberry.
 It is a deciduous shrub or tree.

High Bush Cranberry

Deciduous meaning is it will loose it's leaves in the winter. The small glossy, purple-red berries although thought to cause stomach upsets when raw (this has never been proved officially) It can be used as a medicinal plant and also to dye fabric. It is the birthday flower for 29th September

Viburmum trilobum/High Bush Cranberry

spring bouquet 

This is another viburnum.  Viburnum tinus or  more commonly called the "spring bouquet." It  is an  evergreen shrub.    Evergreen meaning is will stay green and keep it's leaves all year. Notice it's blue berries. 

Today I gathered some more mushrooms for my collage. I found out that to make spore prints I need to use fresh picked mushrooms. I got several of different sizes. The mushroom types are changing. New types are starting to show up. I will look up the seasons of mushrooms and compare how many bloom as to the amount in Oct and Dec. It was peaceful at the lake. the colors around the lake and reflected in the lake are amazing. There are a big gaggle of geese that are on the water now. Don't know what kind or where they stay for the winter. Three bushy tailed squirrels were on the ground eating today. They were so involved with the meal they didn't pay any attention to me. I don't know if they eat mushrooms, but that is what was on the ground around them. I gave them a bite of my apple. I share.

Mushroom spore prints

Today I visited my site and gathered mushrooms. They are almost gone. They have been there for more than a month now. I brought them home and started making a collage using the spore prints as a background on the poster board.

I found mushrooms tonite in my yard, at my nature site, and along the road. I brought several home with me to make spore prints from. Many families of mushrooms are identified by spore color. It impossible to see one spore at a time. Taking a print of the mushrooms spores where many of the spores can seen together is a good way to identify the mushroom.      I started a collage on my poster board and arranged orange and black paper on it so I could get a print on several colors of background.  I'll use the prints as a background for the collage.

Profile Pic of my Nature Spot

My engagement with nature at this time in my life, of 66 years, is very rewarding. I am remembering how nature has been so important to me. I spent many days of my childhood being an explorer. I am quite comfortable being surrounded by nature. I love all the different seasons that nature gives to us. This season and this time in my life means something different to me. I am excited and curious to see where my sense of wonder is taking me. I'm here to explore and share with you what I've found.