When Leaves become Flowers - Fall Pics

FeralGentleman

FeralGentleman

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Nov 13, 2013
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Fall, and the couple of weeks leading up to it, has to be one of my favorite times of the year. Aside from the winter thaw, no other season change (to me) is as vivid and drastic as the transition from Summer to Autumn.

I know I am a little early, but the signs are here. The Northeastern air has already begun to chill in the mornings, and the excitement for the foliage change is growing.

Please share your Fall pics. Bonus points for any who share the season with their favorite OKT knives.

One of my favorite things to do at the end of summer is to sit outdoors just listening. Hearing the noises as gravity grasps ripening beech nuts from their home in the canopy, creating ambient sounds as they click through the leaves on a journey to the forest floor.

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FeralGentleman said:
Fall, and the couple of weeks leading up to it, has to be one of my favorite times of the year. Aside from the winter thaw, no other season change (to me) is as vivid and drastic as the transition from Summer to Autumn.

I know I am a little early, but the signs are here. The Northeastern air has already begun to chill in the mornings, and the excitement for the foliage change is growing.

Please share your Fall pics. Bonus points for any who share the season with their favorite OKT knives.

One of my favorite things to do at the end of summer is to sit outdoors just listening. Hearing the noises as gravity grasps ripening beech nuts from their home in the canopy, creating ambient sounds as they click through the leaves on a journey to the forest floor.

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FeralGentleman said:
It is getting closer. A friend was up in Mass this weekend and says it's starting to look real pretty.

Garlic Mustard transitioning to brown stalks and the American Beech starting to shift green leaves to yellow tells me the time is nearing.

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Very Cool pictures Danny! The leaves are barely turning colors here, Fall is a few weeks behind you guys here.

The Bog Oak on that Warthog just keeps looking better and better over time. Thank you for sharing!
 
Osprey Knife & Tool said:
Very Cool pictures Danny! The leaves are barely turning colors here, Fall is a few weeks behind you guys here.
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MajorD said:
This is a very cool pic. Fall here in Michigan is spectacular. We'll be peak color in October.
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We still have some ways to go. Peak colors in the Hudson River Valley typically come a couple weeks into October. It is starting. You can smell it in the air.

Another late Summer / Fall treat (and one you can eat rather than just admire) are the giant puffballs. Here in NY this is the better time to stumble across them. Calvatia Gigantea and they can get pretty Giganteus: Google tells me the largest recorded puffball to have a diameter of 8' 8", weighing forty-eight pounds

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Not a huge shroom by any means. There was a larger one next it it that was disturbed and already starting to spore. Not uncommon, these will grow in proximity of each other. I have yet to find one of the massive ones. One of these days...

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We took the one that "appeared" good home in hopes to fry it up in some butter. On further inspection the interior had already begun its change and it was soon to spore. There were a couple 'OK' spots, but it was also quite wormy; more so than I would eagerly consume unless I really needed to. In my defeat, I tossed the "faulty" fungus into the woods out back in hopes that the carved up remains will spread forth its spores and bring some of the giant puffball's marvel closer to home.

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FeralGentleman said:
We still have some ways to go. Peak colors in the Hudson River Valley typically come a couple weeks into October. It is starting. You can smell it in the air.

Another late Summer / Fall treat (and one you can eat rather than just admire) are the giant puffballs. Here in NY this is the better time to stumble across them. Calvatia Gigantea and they can get pretty Giganteus: Google tells me the largest recorded puffball to have a diameter of 8' 8", weighing forty-eight pounds

37170193716_b0e9e6274e_c.jpg



Not a huge shroom by any means. There was a larger one next it it that was disturbed and already starting to spore. Not uncommon, these will grow in proximity of each other. I have yet to find one of the massive ones. One of these days...

37236666041_7cb8445297_c.jpg


We took the one that "appeared" good home in hopes to fry it up in some butter. On further inspection the interior had already begun its change and it was soon to spore. There were a couple 'OK' spots, but it was also quite wormy; more so than I would eagerly consume unless I really needed to. In my defeat, I tossed the "faulty" fungus into the woods out back in hopes that the carved up remains will spread forth its spores and bring some of the giant puffball's marvel closer to home.

37170194736_15fd9a538a_c.jpg
Click to expand...





Huh, I did not know you could eat those, are they the same ones that turn brown and you can pop them and a dark brown cloud of spores come out?

Loving the pictures too, I bet that raptor slices that fungus of real nicely! Thanks for sharing Danny!
 
Osprey Knife & Tool said:
Huh, I did not know you could eat those, are they the same ones that turn brown and you can pop them and a dark brown cloud of spores come out?

Loving the pictures too, I bet that raptor slices that fungus of real nicely! Thanks for sharing Danny!
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The smaller examples you really need to slice in half and take a good look inside. The larger puffballs are one of the easier things to identify. If there is any presence of gills or an outline of a cap/stem then you want to steer clear as it could be a button stage Destroying Angel. That is something you don't want to consume for sure unless you want to have a bad few days or die.

Growing up we used to pop the aged ones whenever we saw them. Good times, probably fungus growing in my lungs as we speak.
 
Sat outside with my two girls reading and watching the sunset this evening. We had some high 80 days towards the beginning of the week but have now slipped back down to more cooler Fall weather. Cool enough that even I got under the blanket.

Trees are starting to whisper, dropping their dead weight. A few more weeks and they'll be screaming.

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Still awaiting peak foliage change in this part of the country. It shouldn't be too much longer. Walking some local trails, you can 'smell' the season from the already down and brown leaves covering the ground.

I know friends already getting snow in other areas, so I am getting geared up and in physical shape for that. Weather reports are calling for a better than average snowfall this go around. I am excited.

A Shrike laying around

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MajorD said:
There are great pics in this thread! Thank you for posting them. Some of these would make wonderful wallpaper.
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I missed that comment and thank you so much. Playing around on Instagram a lot over the last couple years has really pushed me to at least try to do more than point and tap/click. I only hope things improve over the years. I was hoping to spur some other pics from different areas of the country/world. It is beautiful here but I know it is gorgeous "out there" where some of you all live.

I had to skip out of much of the peak color and the second shoulder of Fall due to passing around sickness within the family and some holiday traveling. I'll have to sort through and see if there is anything worth posting. I know I didn't take as many as I had wanted too. Oh well...snow is incoming!

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