Book Review - Fungi of Temperate Europe - Vol. 1 & 2 - Princeton University Press

     One of the authors comments at the very beginning, "I cannot fathom nature any more.....the longer you are in the game, the more you realize how little you understand." How many of us would freely admit to such humility? Count me among that number for sure.
     Yet this monumental work, bringing together a combined experience of more than forty years of mycological study, clarifies so much as to be staggering in its scope. "Monumental" has become a bit of an overworked term in recent years, but when applied to Fungi of Temperate Europe it is richly justified. 

     Furthermore, while the focus of the work is Euro-centric there is an enormous amount of knowledge to be extrapolated to fungi the world over. No one with even a moderate interest in mycology should dismiss this work on the basis of not being European. The authors, Thomas Laessøe and Jens H. Petersen are European by birth, and probably by choice, but their knowledge is universal.

     More than 2,850 species from about 1,000 genera are discussed in this book, all of which are accompanied by at least one photograph. As the authors point out much splitting is being done due to DNA-sequencing, as indeed is happening with most organisms.  Doubtless there are already new species that have been identified as a result of molecular analysis.
     A good deal of information is provided at the beginning of volume one covering all the essential components of the fungal kingdom and their role in the ecosystems in which they are found, their nutrition, their vital function in decomposition, their biogeography and habits - and so forth. The first forty-four pages are key to a basic appreciation of fungi, and a thorough understanding of them will equip you with the knowledge you need to proceed further.
     One of the incredibly useful tools, found on page 25 is a colour key, so that descriptions of mushrooms from one person to another are uniform and based on standard values. Instead of one person assigning a term like "buffy," or "rusty," or "chestnut," based on the way his or her eyes perceive it, reference to the colour chart will enable standard descriptive nomenclature to be used. Buff will be buff, cinnamon-buff will be different, but both colours will be the same for everyone.

     The essential key to these volumes is the use of an innovative technique called a fungal wheel. By checking a mushroom against various characters in the wheel, identification can be narrowed down quickly and often clinched in a short time - and with confidence. Throughout the two volumes, fungi are assembled in form groups, so that morphologically similar fungi are arranged together. In a commendably pragmatic way the wheels have been structured so that if you are looking at the wheel that covers one group you will find cross references to other groups, so that you do not have to be an expert in systematics to make the linkage. I have practiced using the wheel and in a very short time it becomes intuitive.

     The breakdown of various groups of fungi is comprehensive indeed. Take for example Agarics, familiar to most no doubt; they are initially categorized as pale-spored agaric groups and dark-spored agaric groups. And the subsets continue - first pleurotids, devolving into small white-spored pleurotids, with aberrant or reduced gills, then small white-spored pleurotids, gelatinous white-spored pleurotids, large white-spored pleurotids,  and finally brown-spored pleurotids. Clearly, with mushroom at hand, it is possible to zero in on correct identification quickly and efficiently, or at the very least get to the family directly and with a good measure of certainty.

     Poisonous and edible mushrooms are identified throughout the books.
     Every single page of this work is illustrated, beautifully and comprehensively. It is a tour de force from start to finish. You will appreciate its completeness, its scholarship page by page. Whether you are an expert mycologist or a rank amateur interested in learning more, you will benefit from a close study of its contents. 
     I cannot recommend it too highly.

Fungi of Temperate Europe
Thomas Læssøe and Jens H. Petersen
Hardcover, two volumes - US$110.00 - 9780691180373
1,708 pages - 7,000 colour illustrations, 7½ in. x 11½ in.
Publication date: 17 September 2019     
     

It's Hard to Put into Words

24 December 2019

     For ardent believers, today is the lead up to a portentous event. To those less ecumenically inclined it is the last chance to jostle cheek by jowl in overheated stores to load up on gobs of "stuff," all the while serenaded by bland renditions of Christmas music repeated ad nauseam. For others it is time to put the finishing touches to the baking, perhaps; to make sure the lights on the tree are winking properly.

     And for Miriam and me? It is a day to do what we do best, go out and discover nature. And so, armed with a thermos of coffee and two blueberry muffins, we set off to explore Ontario's snowy wonderland. Our primary quest was to find that spectre of the north, that bird so mystical to many, so remote for those who do not live in a northern land, the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus). Every year we are accorded the rare honour of being in the presence of these regal creatures who spend a few short months with us. Yet most of the birders in the entire world will never see one.

     Today we found two. Our first bird was a wonderful white male, hunkered down along a row of conifer saplings, oblivious to the cold, conserving energy and scanning its surroundings, alert for any sign of prey.

     Mostly it remained still, other than for moving its head in a 270 degree swivel, but after an hour or so of observation it shifted a few metres.

     Thanks to modern technology we were able to text our friends who might be interested to join us to view the owl, and Francine and Jim who were out and about themselves took up the offer, and joined us in the ecstasy of the moment.

Miriam and I had already enjoyed the bird for over an hour and we left to return home for lunch. Jim and Francine stayed behind to wallow in the pleasure a while longer.

     We were not more than three kilometres down the road when Francine texted to advise that they had discovered a female close by. What to do but turn around and go to see it! 

     Now we have seen these birds many times. In fact at a rough mental count, I have seen well over two hundred of them; Miriam somewhat less, but many nevertheless. Furthermore some of our encounters have been of the close and personal kind, with birds mere metres away from us.

     What drives us to go and search for them over and over again? Why do we get the itch to do so every winter? What is it that spurs Miriam to say, "Let's go and look for owls?"

      I think that Peter Høeg defines it best in his novel Smilla's Sense of Snow. "Understanding snow," he says, "is like listening to music. To describe it is like explaining music in writing." And so it is with Snowy Owls. Don't even try to explain it, don't bother to understand it, don't attempt to rationalize it. Just enjoy the experience over and over again. For me that's about as spiritual as it gets.

      

Merry Christmas - Joyeux Noel

May Peace, Happiness and the Richness of Nature be with you always.
David and Miriam

Jonah Feeds a Chickadee

22 December 2019

     On a fine winter's day we met up with Kayla and Jonah to do a little birding along the Mill Race Trail in St. Jacobs.

     Kayla is originally from the Toronto area and Jonah from Ottawa, and neither one had ever seen the assembly of Mennonite horses and buggies at a church, so we took them first to the meeting house on Three Bridges Road in order that they might witness this remarkable sight.

     The horses waited patiently at the hitching rails while the service continued inside. And we waited too until a few of the conveyances left so that Kayla and Jonah could take in the whole scene, following which we returned to the start of the Mill Race Trail to begin our walk.

     I have to tell you that Jonah is a beer chemist, a fellow engaged in fermenting, brewing, fusing molecules, alchemy almost, a sophisticated creator of the unique tastes associated with micro breweries - but he has never fed a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) from the hand. Ergo, his education was clearly incomplete.  Furthermore, when Kayla raised the possibility he scoffed at the very idea. Scoffed, mind you, dismissed the notion as a foolish flight of fancy. Obviously this grave misapprehension had to be rectified and we had brought bird seed along with exactly that aim in mind.

     Chickadees on the Mill Race Trail have been habituated to friendly humans for years and recognize every two-legged creature as a potential source of food.

     It did not take long for Jonah to experience the unique joy of contact with a wild creature. The sheer elation on his face speaks volumes as he follows a bird that had just left his hand with a seed in its bill.

          Once is never enough, of course.

     Kayla was in on the secret all along and knew with certainty what Jonah's reaction would be.

     Some days happiness is a little bird on your hand.

     It was unlikely that this American Crow (Corvus brachyrynchos) would be following the lead of the chickadee!

     The Mill Race looked quite splendid clad in its winter coat.

     At one point a train went over the old trestle bridge, slowly, and almost elegantly it seemed.

     Kayla and Jonah were happy to watch it go by.

     I am sure that this female Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) had other activities to occupy her daylight hours, not the least of which was securing food.

          It was very seldom that several chickadees did not travel with us on the trail, joined by others along the way. Each one represented sheer delight for us.

     The sun was shining, the temperature was mild, there was snow on the ground, the green of conifers all around - it was good to be out and about.

     No stroll along the Mill Race Trail would be complete without a visit to the Eco Café at the St. Jacobs end of the walk. I think that for Jonah it was almost in the nature of a victory celebration. He even got a cookie with his coffee!

     Every year a few Belted Kingfishers (Megacerlye alcyon) tough out the winter and remain on territory rather than migrate. It has always been my theory that males remain behind, accepting the trade-off of cold weather versus migration in order to have a territory established for when the females return in the spring. The birds I have seen in the winter have always been males. Today there were two Belted Kingfishers on the Conestogo River and as the picture below clearly shows one is a female.

     I am inclined to believe that this has something to do with climate change. The temperature was around 4.5° C, whereas the expected value for this period in December is minus 4.1° C. It now appears that mated pairs will, at least sometimes, remain to face the winter together.
     There were expanses of open water on the river, and Kayla had mentioned that she had only ever seen kingfishers in flight and had never seen them perched. Our obliging female dived into the river, caught a fish, went to a perch and swallowed it. The whole performance was staged for Kayla, I have no doubt.
     Chickadees were our companions on the return journey as they had been on the outward leg, and Kayla and I could not resist feeding them again.

     We saw numerous species, but Black-capped Chickadee was the unchallenged star of the day.

     I suspect that Jonah learned a brand new formula today, and it looks like this.....

SJ + BCCH = HAPP²

     ..... where SC = Scoffer Jonah, BCCH = Black-capped Chickadee, resulting in Happiness squared.

     You many not be able to brew beer with it but it is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face on a snowy winter's day.

     

Happy Hanukkah - Hanukkah Sameachi

May Peace, Happiness and the Richness of Nature be with you always
David and Miriam

Ring-necked Pheasant (Faisan de chasse)

21 December 2019

     Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and Miriam and I got an early start on a ramble through the hinterlands of Waterloo and Wellington counties, in search of the winter specialties which are starting to take up residence here. We were especially searching for Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) but were unsuccessful in our quest, although the conditions are now suitable for this most glorious of birds. I have little doubt that in the next week or two we will find one or more.

     The temperature hovered around minus 6 degrees C, with bright sunshine, perfect weather for a winter's day in Ontario.

     Creeks and streams are now frozen over.

     In driving around today my mind took me towards John Riley's great work of 2013, The Once and Future Great Lakes Country, and I was doubly reminded of the great fortune we have to live in such a wonderful part of the world. 

     It will be hard for many to give credence to the fact that we came across a "better" bird than a Snowy Owl, a species in fact that I have seen but twice  in Waterloo Region and today for the first time in Wellington County. I am referring to the Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), and we encountered a magnificent male specimen.

     

     I remember vividly during a visit to the UK several years ago seeing this bird almost every day, and sometimes several at a time. It is an introduced species, having been brought into both the UK and Canada for hunting purposes. Thousands are released each year in order that they may be promptly shot, but some birds inevitably elude the gunners and feral populations become established, more so in England it appears, for it is seldom seen here.

     This individual was about as cooperative as a bird can be and was within photographic range for nigh on a half hour. 

     We had pulled onto the shoulder of the road, and by following Miriam's instructions - 'Pull forward a couple of metres," "Back up a little," "Go past the tree," and so on, she was able to capture some very pleasing shots.

     At one point it was in the open in a field of corn stubble.

     It was altogether a very pleasing encounter, and our day was made. Anything after this would constitute the proverbial icing on the cake.

     We didn't have cake with us, but we did have two of Miriam's world class blueberry muffins on hand, and a thermos of coffee, the pleasure of which was magnified by our serendipitous encounter with a handsome bird.

     For a birder every day holds promise, and every day delivers in greater or lesser measure. Today was one for the record book. There are many more to come, I am sure.

Northern Shrike (Pie-grièche grise)

18 December 2019

     Northern Shrike (Lanius borealis) is a bird that spends the winter in our area, and is always an exciting bird to find. 

     It helps to know where they traditionally appear for they seem to be faithful to their winter quarters.

     Although not uncommon, it is a bird that is infrequently encountered. Miriam and I were out doing errands this morning, and knew where we might expect one, and made our way to the area where we have seen the bird in the past.

     We were not disappointed.

     The bird was perched atop a small sapling and by using the car as a blind we were able to approach quite closely, pulled off to the side of the road I might add, to the consternation of other vehicles I have no doubt!

     It was prone to flying off, but never far, and by careful stalking we were able to secure a few reasonably decent pictures.

     This species is coloquially known as a Butcher Bird by some, due to its habit of impaling its prey on thorns or barbed wire to soften them up for consumption later. It is not often that I have seen this larder, and I have no idea where this bird might maintain it.

     I expect we will see it several more times during the winter as we revisit the area. It never fails to excite and please us.