Outside

Habitat of (what could be) a new species of "mushroom" and close up of "fruiting bodies."With all this unseasonable rain we have been experiencing throughout Central Oregon, I thought it would be advantageous to go out in search of mushrooms. I understand it is during damp periods like these that mushroom fruiting bodies come to the surface, and being a person who enjoys a fresh mushroom from time to time, well, I thought, you can never tell…

I was driving slowly on the road from Sisters High School to town watching intently for mushrooms along the way, when suddenly I was excited, (and almost shocked) to see what I thought were a small group of inky caps, but what they really turned out to be is a new species, perhaps one of the most electrifying experiences I've ever had in my years of searching for new edible forms of mushrooms.
Now, I know the deadly Amanitas; some of the amanitas are so colorful you can't miss them, while others are quite common looking, but can still kill you dead, or give you a terrible stomachache. For that reason, I'm very jumpy about what mushrooms I consider "safe," or "unsafe" for consumption. Unless I see someone still walking around an hour or so after eating a wild mushroom, I stick to the ones I find in the grocery store, but sometimes I even look at them a little sideways…

Western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma sp.)This may be a banner year for tent caterpillar infestations on Antelope
Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata (Pursh), fruit trees and ornamental
shrubs. But, please, don't grab up the chemicals to attack them. Think
before you spray!

This is a pest that can be looked at in several
ways. For one, they have been here long before us, and no matter how
many colonies you kill, they will still be here after we've gone out
among the stars-they may be pests, and not much fun to look at, but
they are survivors. On top of that, they are one of the favored targets
of tachinid flies, helpful insect parasites that are always looking for
a delicious host. Most often, if you spray tent caterpillars, you will
also kill the "Good Guys." Another point is, as adults, tent
caterpillars take to the wing as moths that are the favored prey for a
number of bats, nighthawks, Flammulated Owls and other night-time
insect feeders.
In the short-term view, tent caterpillars may
seem repulsive and cause damage to plants, but in the long run-which is
how Nature looks at things-they ain't so bad.

Perfect swarm technique!Over the past five years or so I have had the pleasure of coming to Bend every spring (from my home near Sisters) to capture swarms of bees.

This spring I received several calls from various people wanting to be rid of a swarm of bees within their trees, and house. The first came in from a person living in the West Hills with a swarm, then came a call from a women with bees in her rental home, and then about a swarm on Minnesota in downtown Bend.
I found the calls interesting, as last year I received a nasty letter from the Bend Police Department telling me I had to remove a box of bees I had in the West Hills, as it is (allegedly) illegal to keep bees in Bend. Someone better get busy and tell the bees that, as there are probably 20 or more wild bee colonies thriving within city limits. I know that to be fact, as I found another huge colony with at least 50,000 bees in a brick building not more than a half-block from the swarm on Minnesota.

Male Pacific Tree Frog singing his Song of Spring.The frogs we hear singing their hearts out every evening are our tiny
Pacific Tree Frog, Pseudacris regilla, a common species throughout the
Northwest. They range from Northern California, all through Oregon and
Washington, British Columbia, and eastward to Idaho, Montana and
Nevada. These little guys come in shades of greens or browns, and can
be found from sea level up to over 11,000 feet, as well as our dry,
cold High Desert.
Male tree frogs begin the mating business in
early spring (and there are many of us who have heard them practicing
in our basements on warm winter nights); they migrate to ponds, where
they all start singing at once, and very loudly. The guy with the
loudest voice gets to mate first with the females laying their eggs on
and under vegetation and leaf litter in shallow, calm, clean water. And
they are a hardy bunch; they have to be to survive "spring" in Central
Oregon.
If the eggs are not eaten by salamanders or snakes,
embryos will become tadpoles within one to three weeks. If the tadpoles
are not eaten by salamanders, snakes and herons, the tadpoles will feed
on periphyton, filamentous algae, diatoms and pollen in and on the
surface of the water. If they are not eaten by bigger salamanders,
snakes, fish, bullfrogs, kingfishers or herons, about two and a half
months later, the tadpole’s metamorphosis is complete and they leave
the water as frogs and become terrestrial predators on arthropods.