Fantasy Junction

Yesterday we discovered this place in nearby Emeryville called Fantasy Junction. Its a showroom for very high-end sports cars. Think 1974 Lamborghini Countach. Think 1937 Jaguar SS-100. That was one of Liam's favorites. Here is a picture of a car Liam really loved, a 1953 Jaguar. He's in the corner of the photo holding his face in joy and excitement.

Some Great Surprises

Today we were all sort of getting on each other's nerves, so we decided to go and do a hike. We set out to find mushrooms but I (Andrea) was not hopeful. Winter's almost over around here and I didn't know what to expect. But we found some amazing stuff, including some really rare mushrooms. We haven't identified this first one, but are pretty sure that the second picture shows a Black Elfin Saddle or a False Morel, also called a Brain Mushroom. The last two pictures are of a perfect Panther (amanita pantherina) that we found. This is the first one of these that we've ever found ourselves and Liam is ecstatic. He said, "This is a great day for the imagination!" 

A New Interest

Liam is really interested in sports cars now, and in particular, really likes Jaguars, especially ones that have the jaguar on the hood. 

The Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo State Park

Sorry if the formatting is messed up on this post. I can't seem to get the photos situated properly.

On February 26, Liam and I went down to Ano Nuevo State Park, which is south of Half Moon Bay, where there is a large group of elephant seals that mate and birth at this time of year. The day we were there, the census was more than 2000 elephant seals. While the rest of us marveled at this population, Liam took pix of his own creation. I will try to get those off his camera shortly. 

The next photo shows one of these beasts. This is a male seal, lounging on what the rangers call "Losers' Beach" because its where the male seals who were unsuccessful in creating a harem go. This dude was easily 12 feet long, and we could get within 25 feet of him. After I took this picture, he raised his head and chest and bellowed, then charged at another male, who tried to find safety with our tour group. We all had to scramble up a sand dune. This gents can travel very fast and will steamroll whatever's in their path. We saw a few dead seal pups whom the docent thought had probably been trampled.

Here's Liam with our docent Laura, discussing the various bones that had been found on the beach.

And finally, here's another male who was sliding down a sand dune, although it was unclear how he ever fought gravity and inertia to get up that hill. 

Here's the most interesting thing I learned about elephant seals. The females come to the beach to give birth, and 24 days later, they are impregnated again. However, actual gestation of the embryo does not begin for about 2-3 months. It just hangs out until she's had a chance to feed and bulk up again. Gestation lasts 9 months, although she carries the embryo for a few months before it begins. Wierd, huh?

Protists

Liam is suddenly very interested in protists, although this is something I am not even sure what it is. I told him I would post this link, although I don't know what this thing is. More on protists when I figure out what they are.

Point Reyes Mini-Fungus Fair

Today the Bay Area Mycological Society hosted a Mini-Fungus Fair at Point Reyes National Park, so we drove up early, and did a little hike near the visitor center. The Woodpecker Trail is a nice little variable trail that starts in a little clutch of trees that have all been pecked with thousands of holes. Apparently the woodpeckers aren't hunting for bugs, they store acorns in the little holes they make. Who knew? The trail went through a meadow and then into a denser forest, where we found plenty of mushrooms. In particular, we found a gorgeous scarlet cup and several huge conks. 

The Fungus Fair (don't know why they called it Mini) was several tables of mushrooms that the BAMS member had collected yesterday. This was huge for us because we got to see some mushrooms we haven't been able to find, like the Panther (amanita pantherina) and the Gemmed Amanita (amanita gemmata). On top of that, we confirmed that a harmless seeming little brown mushroom we found yesterday is actually a Deadly Galerina. We brought it home and did a really cool spore print with it, so we weren't too psyched to learn that its at least as deadly as the Death Cap.

This first one is the Panther mushroom, followed by the beautiful Fly Agaric they had collected. Finally, some Turkey Tail we saw in the woods.

Skyline with Kate

We are way behind on my mushroom hike blogging. WAY behind. Last weekend (I think!) our cousin Kate visited, and brought her very own mushroom guide. You seriously cannot ask for a better guest than that. We saw many mushrooms, and Andrea already blogged about the ladybugs. We also saw these. The first one is a brown cup. The next picture shows the bird's nest mushrooms. Those tiny little mushrooms have even tinier little disks in them, so they look like little bird's nests. The last one is a purple fungus we saw growing on the end of a log. Not only was Kate a great mushroom hunter (it runs in the family) but our friends Conor, Finn, Lisa and Pat were awesome too.