Backyard and Beyond

The Upper Pool is just starting to blush with the coming of fall. A walk through the park yesterday. We saw: Wood Duck, Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, House Wren, Carolina Wren, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.Also, lurking below: Elegant Stinkhorn, Mutinus elegans. This species is thought to be the first North American fungus described by a European, in 1679 Virginia. The genus name, Mutinus, harkens back to a priapic Roman god.Potter wasp (Eumenes fraternus) gathering mud for her nest.