I highly recommend you to go around the large pond to capture the spirit of autumn - this is what you may find!

On a recent morning at Brightwood Park I found vibrant fall colors.  Be sure to check out the park in person as the colors are changing almost every day.  Do not miss out.

Even though we had an extended period of drought, the mushrooms did not seem to mind and still came out to party in the beautiful place.

I was in the park early in the morning last week to greet the plants, the chipmunks, and the mushrooms.  I also saw wood ducks at a remote end of the central island, and a blue heron in the small pond.

After working at home for the most of the day, I decided to relax myself by going to the park again in the afternoon.  I did not expect to see much wildlife activity since most of them would have finished hunting for the day and some  take a nap when the sun goes from one side to the other.

It was a pleasant surprise that a green heron flew by and landed close to me in the pond junction area.  Then the bird started posing and even did so by changing positions from standing on tree branches to walking and swimming in the water.  We had a wonderful time together for a good 45 minutes or so before we said farewell to each other.  Somehow I had a feeling that this might be the green heron rescued by my friend and me in May.  How much I wish I could speak heron language!

While I was paying my full attention to the green heron, I heard some strange sound.  By turning 180 degrees, I saw a blue heron on the top of a very tall tree on the other side of the small pond.  The blue heron might have been jealous of the attention I devoted to its cousin and made some noise to remind me of its presence, too.

​Yesterday I went to the park early in the morning, and decided to spend some time on the two-bridge trail.  I saw two bucks and two deer, who joined me halfway on the trail and appeared to guide me somewhere.  When they stopped, I saw an area with bright orange colored objects in a dark background of woods and logs.  This turned out to be a large colony of chicken-in-the-woods mushrooms.  It was a stunning experience since I have never seen so many of them in such a layout.  The name Brightwood Chicken Farm immediately came across my mind.  Meanwhile, the same kind of mushrooms were seen in many areas of the park in an isolated manner.  I wonder if this is a cycle of nature for the species and my lucky year (yours, too, of course).

Also included are images of multiple hen-of-the-woods mushrooms I took at the fallen tree near the dam.  On the top of the broken trunk, there is a chicken-of-the-woods mushroom, like a crowing rooster.

Here I am sharing with you the photos taken with camera and with iPhone, respectively.  Included are the small mushrooms (near the dam) I have been monitoring for a few weeks.  Two finally came off from where they grew.  Interestingly they seemed to be doing OK after falling for two days.  The original hairy one was already absorbed by the mud.

One of the orange-colored mushrooms caught my eye with its pleasant smile.  Actually many of the mushrooms have interesting patterns if you use your imagination.

 The mushroom called "chicken of the woods" is usually found on the ground and grows on a log or the base of dead trees.  The recently found one growing on top of a broken tree (which I called spider apartment) is a rare case.  I tried to document it by taking shots from multiple angles. 

 Early this morning the blue heron dressed up and waited near the meadow area to serve as my model.  I also found that the dog or fox shaped mushroom near the dam was still there, and seems to grow more hair.  The flowers by the parking lot and the mushrooms on a tree reminded me of the breakfast table at home.

 Recently, a smiling squirrel greeted me, and appeared to desire a few portrait photo shots.  I could not disappoint such an adorable creature!

Near the dam a young green heron was watching fish activity in the water, and allowed me to stay close and take multiple photo shots.  After a while for some reason the fellow seemed to think I was a doctor providing a physical exam.  For twice the bird opened the beak and said "Ahh!" in front of me.  

 To me every day in Brightwood brings a new adventure.  Today there was no exception.  

Yesterday I was informed by Bianca of encountering a Turtlehead plant with a beautiful flower sitting at the shore of the large pond.  The images in the photos Bianca shared with me were amazing, and I could not wait to go to the park to take a direct look.  I am happy to report to you that in addition to the first one, several more of the plant can also be found at the bottom of the erosion area.  

​

There was a carnival in the park once recent morning!  The wildlife and the mushrooms presented their feature performances.  Today while many of the characters were still around, the chipmunks and the squirrels decided to offer a talent show of vocal presentations.  Instead of the usual high pitch voice like sopranos or tenors, the chipmunks were singing in bass or alto tones.  When it came to the squirrels' turns, they first sang in a rock-and-roll style, then followed by imitating dog barking.  Both were quite entertaining.

The sound performance continued when I got to the shore of the large pond near the dam, a flock of geese flew by and presented a special but short choir music.

I then went back to the mushroom exhibition place.  This time I climbed onto the huge trunk of the fallen tree to get a better image of the orange-colored mushrooms on the top of the standing part of the tree.  I also stepped back to take shots of the tree to record the locations of the two clustered mushrooms, one on each side of the base of the tree, and the locations of the tiny and cute mushrooms.  Two mushrooms' faces reminded me of Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the favorite comedians of both my dad and me.

While I was on the two-bridge trail, I saw a fresh cluster of soft mushrooms.  A lanternfly also caught my eye.  Fortunately there was only one, and it was easy to take care of.