Nature walk

Last weekend, we took the dogs to the nature trail.  It was a glorious day, so of course the trail was full of bikers and walkers.  It’s good that so many people are enjoying the outdoors after being cooped up all winter long, but it makes it a little less enjoyable to be on the trail…always looking ahead of you and behind you for bicyclists who think they are riding in the “Tour de France”.

So we headed INTO nature and while we were there Kenny found a pair of shed deer antlers…..he was so excited….just like a little kid….this is the first shed antlers he’s ever found and he just happened upon them.  He actually found a pair, which many people later told us on the trail is quite rare to find the pair of them together.  Of course we couldn’t resist having a bit of fun with them.  I think Cleopatra looks like the dog from the “Grinch who Stole Christmas”!……she was not impressed :)

Here are more pictures from our walk.  Kenny is so good to point out things of interest for me to photograph.  I’ve found that I’m quite taken by all of the different fungi that grow on downed trees.

Aren’t THESE interesting?!  I don’t know if they are a type of spore or a fungus.

Sorry I have so many pictures of this….I was quite intrigued.

A closer look.

This picture gives you a better idea of the size of them compared to the downed tree they were on.

There are a lot of downed trees from the ice storm that we had a few years back….now they are coming to life in a different sort of way.

Tree stumps are another place for fungi to grow.

And then there is moss….what is it about moss that is so beautiful?  So soft and fragile looking.

This is the first thorn tree I’ve ever encountered…..glad I encountered it with my camera and not my body…..these thorns are huge and deadly looking!  I would say they are 3-6 inches long!   Actually, after googling for a while I found that this is actually a honey locust tree….supposedly the thorns keep deer and other fauna from stripping it’s bark…..those thorns would keep me away for sure!

Looking up into the tree….trying to get close without getting stabbed!