Rain tapered off this morning and it was mostly cloudy through much of the day. Overnight lows dropped into the upper 40s.
The mountains had a dusting snow. It was a little difficult to tell how low it dropped, but I think at least down to 3000ft. It’s possible (maybe even likely) that some of it was more hail-like, as there was some hail (or hail like precipitation) early this morning (according to Connor – I was still asleep).
I think it’s been years since I saw this much snow down so low this early in the fall. I don’t expect it to stay, but time will tell.
Today I checked old airport road for plantain mildew, and found some. Coincidentally, Paul N. found some in front of his house. Both of us had been looking previously without success, so it definitely seems to be a seasonal thing. I’ll try checking the native plantains (if they even have any leaves left – I’ve never really checked when the leaves die back).
From there I went out to Herring Cove and ventured just a little ways into one of the draws. My motivation was to look for Lepidozia, but I didn’t limit myself to that. I did find at least three different patches I photographed and made a collection of. I also documented some other liverworts, mosses, and fungi. Some was familiar to me, others not.
On my way back from Herring Cove, I noticed a soap bubble floating down towards the road just past Silver Bay Seafoods. This seemed odd until I spotted someone standing on the trailside table making another big bubble. I appreciate this sort of thing. It’s something I would put into a broad category I like to call whimsy. I’ve found some ephemeral whimsy before, but nothing quite as ephemeral as soap bubbles along the road.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
