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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄

@dustymcdusterson.bsky.social

2.2K followers 880 following 1.9K posts

I post🍄🌲🪴pics taken on my daily hikes w/ Winston The forest is my happy place & helps regulate my PTSD Liberal atheist 🖋️📸 mycophile INFJ Former USAF ⛈️ forecaster, turned enviro 🥼 Geoscience MS PNW=🏡 Real conversation w/ compassion Gaza = Genocide!

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · Apr 6

So adorably tiny!

I present what I believe to be Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup fungi, Lachnum virgineum, found yesterday on our afternoon forest bathing excursion.

More photos and a video of me finding them below.

#Nature #Fungi #Macro
🍄📷 #DecayBoquet 🌱

Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup fungi, Lachnum virgineum. I believe the water droplets are Guttation they are excreting. Found yesterday in the forest.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 18h

☠️Trigger warning☠️

#Circle-of-life moment with a #BaldEagle feasting on an unknown seabird as 2 #crows look on, all while perched up on a beached tree along the #Oregon coast.

About 5 seconds in, a #CaliforniaSeaLion pops its head up as it hunts in the surf moving from left to right. #Nature

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 2d

I spy, with my little eye, something yummy & yellow...hiding among a cluster of boletes in the Suillaceae family

This white #Fungi growing on a mossy log was a first for me

Best guesses are Stilbella byssiseda or Xylaria furcata, open to suggestions

Found in the #HohRainforest
#AltText 🌱 🍄📸

A couple of young Golden Pacific Chanterelle hide among some boletes with slimy caps I'm assuming family Suillaceae. Surrounded by mosses, wood sorrel and other vegetative ground cover. Obviously left in place as found in Olympic National Park.

This potential Stilbella byssiseda or Xylaria furcata caught my eye right away. I didn't futz with it and this was the only angle I could get without disturbing it and it's friends too much. It looks to be guttating but it was raining fairly hard when we were visiting, shocking!! That a rainforest had rain! But it was a gnarly storm with heavier than typical rain.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 2d

Amanita muscaria!🍄

The last one might be a bonus A. gemmata, definitely not A. aprica, as it's the wrong season for them.

Found in & near the Hoh Rainforest, Washington State.
#Nature #Fungi #FungiFriends #AltText

A gorgeous candy apple red Amanita muscaria hiding out under some ferns had interesting patterning due to rainfall washing away the exposed portion's universal veil remnants, exposing the stunning red cap.

A baby candy-apple red amanita muscaria found in the Hoh Rain Forest along the Hall of Mosses trail. Most of the veil has already washed off other than a few sticking points on the cap, leading to an interesting looking pattern. Note the little mycena in the back right looking on in jealousy.

One of the more orange varieties of amanita muscaria I've seen. Love the variation in coloration seen in and out of the park. This was found outside the park.

Possibly an Amanita gemmata although it was found in close proximity to more orange A. muscaria so I could be wrong and it might be a surprisingly yellow A. muscaria.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 3d

First Beach in La Push was epically beautiful this morning with lots of sea foam floating about in the high winds.

We stumbled on a sea lion hiding out in the logs at the high tide line.

#Beach #Nature

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

I initially thought Peppery Milkcap, but that was a bust. Maybe Cloud Funnel, Clitocybe nebularis. Found in a mixed, predominantly Douglas Fir, forest, in close proximity to a few mature Bigleaf Maples. So unlikely the poisonous Fool's Funnel, but better safe than sorry, in this case dead...🍄📸 🌱

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

I love finding mushroom goblets!

Definitely wouldn't recommend drinking from them, least of all this unidentified species that could potentially be poisonous. Pictures and potential ID 👇
#FungiGoblets 🍄📸 🌱

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

Right? I love finding groupings of tiny fungi like this. Pine cone infestations are my favorite, I didn't realize how many species of fungus use those as hosts.

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

I'll sample resin in the forest on hikes but never enough to chew. Or have you harvested and processed it?

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

Oh wow! I've yet to see the yellow form! Keeping an eye out for it now, but I wonder if it's less common in the US Pacific Northwest. I've finally trained my eyes to no longer discount what at first glance I dismiss as white rot which I usually find uninteresting except when guttating.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 4d

I found it on Reddit!
Here's the direct link to one of the posts, but also the video.
www.reddit.com/r/Kitsap/s/J...

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 5d

I swear I saw footage from that drone somewhere, but can't find it now. Maybe it was on Reddit.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 7d

A couple observations from today

📸 1&2: Orange Rough Cap Tooth, Hydnellum aurantiacum

📸 3: What I assume is a Red-belted conk, Fomitopsis pinicola, getting its #Guttation on

📸4: The view looking south at Beach 2 in Olympic National Park

#FungiFriends
#Nature #Fungi

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 7d

On the trail heading away from Beach 2 in Olympic National Park

The #SitkaSpruce is absolutely my favorite tree, just beating out the Pacific Madrone. They make for a great haunted forest!

This section of forest has some of the most widespread super-massive #burls I've ever seen! #SeaSpray #Nature

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 7d

Winston & I circumnavigated the Olympics today for work & were fortunate to be able to take a quick stop at Beach 2 along the Pacific coast section of #OlympicNationalPark

My favorite part of the Pacific coast, with massive old growth stumps standing tall in the surf as the cobbles sing 🎶

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 8d

A couple of still shots of the above forest find. #Fungi

These fungi are all attached to the piece of bark they're surrounding.

Undershot of the same fungi growing on bark.

A final shot of the bark covered in fungi. I left the happy family on the stump so they have a better chance of spreading their spores not only in their previous position but also a ways away and higher elevation above the forest floor.

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 8d

I initially thought this was a group of Fir Cone fungi until I realized the mushrooms weren't growing from a cone, but rather what looks like a piece of bark. Found along trail, transported to stump to take pictures.
First time I've seen that small a chunk of wood colonized like this. 🍄📸 🌱

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 8d

A couple more observations from today

📸1: Oysters!! Pleurotus pulmonarius
📸2: A couple fungi in the genus Xerocomellus surrounded in a field of moss with a smattering mycena
📸3: Cone Tooth fungus, Auriscalpium vulgare, also known as the Ear-pick fungus
📸4: Tiny cute white mycena
📸🍄 🌱 #Fungi #Nature

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 8d

A couple observations from today

📸1: Lemon Discos!! Calycina citrina, also known as Yellow Fairy Cups
📸2: Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup, Lachnum virgineum
📸3: Fir Cone mushroom, Strobilurus trullisatus
📸4: A lone Candlesnuff fungus, Xylaria hypoxylon with a large drop of #guttation
📸🍄 🌱 #Fungi #Nature

I believe these might be Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup fungi but they were quite larger than I have seen previously and the stalks are quite a bit shorter compared to the cups. I'd say tentative ID at best but unless someone else can ID them I'll probably just leave it at that.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 8d

Nice! Fun seeing a No Kings Port Orchard participant I remember seeing walking around Saturday.
Loved your pineapple bit! That was a great crowd, I wish I had taken more pictures and videos.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 9d

#SlimeMold sample post with bonus tiny #fungi

📸1: One of the larger Wolf's Milk slime mold with both pink & grey representing
📸2: A scatter shot of Dog Vomit slime mold
📸3: Honeycomb coral slime mold, my favorite!
📸4: Common Grey Disco fungi, Mollisia cinerea

🍄📸 🌱
#AltText
#Nature

Forbidden popping boba! Wolf's Milk slime mold in both grey and pink. These buggers are huge for a slime mold, not marble sized but getting there.

Dog Vomit slime mold that's grown a bit more spread out than typical. I've seen dinner plate sized colonies of these guys. This covered an area of about the size of a tea cup saucer.

Honeycomb coral slime mold. These guys really died down during the summer but with all this glorious rain they're finally popping back up! They're amazing under microscope! But getting them safely out of the woods is a bit of a task that I usually fail when I get distracted and set them down wrong side up....very very very extraordinarily fragile little creatures!

Common grey disco fungi covering an exposed log. There were some orange ones elsewhere on the same log. I think that tiny little orange speck in the bottom left is one of the same orange ones.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 9d

A couple more observations from the forest today. 🌱🍄📸 #Fungi #Fly #Slug #ALTText

A cluster of fungi with caps that vary from light grey to grey-bown with the lighter color on the edges of the caps and a slow graduation to grey-brown. Found emerging from a long dead fir stump.

This was the crispest I could get the fly before I accidentally scared it off when one of my lights fell over.

Some kind of bonnet mushroom occupies this western cedar limb that's covered in bountiful bright green moss.

A spotless Pacific banana slug glide along a moss covered alder trunk in search of its next snack.

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 9d

More Golden Scaleycap, Pholiota aurivella.

This time the #fungi was found growing from a standing Alder tree with a trunk that looks to have just recently fully given up the ghost, so to speak.
#FungiFriends #NOT!Edible #Nature

These Golden Scaleycap, Pholiota aurivella are a stunning golden to amber color cap and stipes with cream colored gills. The scales are abundant but wash away and degrade as evidenced by the lower, and less protected from the elements fungi that already look to have started to decay.

A slightly closer view of the same fungi from photo 1. These fresh looking fungi friends have been better protected from the elements compared to their lower siblings.

A pair of the same fungi but about a foot away from the fungi seen in images 1 and 2.

Another little grouping, this time all by it's lonesome, also another foot away from the larger grouping seen in images 1 and 2.

Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 9d

Expressing a pair of earthstar fungi spore sacs

I believe these were the Rounded earthstar, Geastrum saccatum

Found during our forest time today
#FungiFriends #Fungi #Nature

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 10d

Out in Port Orchard with Winston.

Picture doesn't do the crowded justice.

No Kings!!
#NoKings #AbolishIce

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Dusty McDusterson (He/Him) 🍄 @dustymcdusterson.bsky.social · 10d

📸1&2 are the same #fungi as seen above but with a human finger included to gain #perspective of their size.

📸3 is another tiny fungi with a forefinger included again for perspective.

Bonus📸 4 is #Panthercap, Amanita Pantherina with a full hand for perspective. #FungiFriends

The same tiny fungi from image 1 above but with a human forefinger to gain perspective as to the size of this tiny little white bugger.

A tiny white mushroom being booped with the gorgeous orange false chanterelle seen in the above post with it's diminutive size now brought into perspective.

Look at that fringe!! this tiny little fungi had both a fringe along the cap as well as a partial veil on the stem, where the fringe broke free from.

A gorgeous Panther cap from the side. Look at that stunning partial veil!