November 16-22, 2025
A very slow week
This has been one of the slowest weeks in nature observations that I've experienced in years so this will be a very short newsletter. The low number of observations was partly due to the gray, dreary weather and bits of rain that we've been having, but there also doesn't seem to be a lot going on right now.
The only changes I noticed this week was the disappearance of the common loons that had been hanging out at Big Twin Lake and the fact that I haven't seen any big groups of Canada geese in a couple weeks.
I've also been noticing large flocks of blackbirds and crows but that's an expected behavior for these birds in the winter so there's no surprise there.
My only other observation of note was finding a large patch of unusual club fungi while walking at Big Valley on a rainy day. I've never seen these fungi before and it was fascinating how many there were in this patch. Club-shaped fungi are an anomoly to the extent that both of the two major divisions of mushrooms (basidiomycetes and ascomycetes) in the world produce nearly identical club fungi. In other words, club fungi that look virtually undistinguishable can be in completely different divisions (which are equivalent to phylums).
It looks like the coming week will bring us our first significant snows, so here's hoping that we can all get outside and see some more wildlife. In the meantime, thank you everyone for your support and for sharing newsletter with friends and family.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
