The Birds and the Mushrooms: Some of Mother Nature's Manna

I may have multiple vices but I don’t think anyone would call me a birding snob.  I love to bird watch—literally just stand or sit and watch birds. I love to study and learn about birds; and I love to talk and spend time in the field with other birders.  I also enjoy taking non-birders out in the field, sharing an extra pair of binoculars, and hopefully sparking their interest in my feathered friends.  But I’m not a birding snob. 

It’s not only that I know several birders that are MUCH more knowledgeable than I (with much longer life lists). It’s not only that I know several birders that are also great naturalists, with detailed understanding of habitats and other, non-feathered specimens of Mother Nature’s creatures.  It’s quite simply that when it comes to my vices, being a factoid snob isn’t really one of them.  There are simply too many facts that I know that I don’t know; and, as the saying goes, there are way too many facts that I don’t even know can be known.

No, I am not a factoid snob which pretty much prevents me from being a birding snob.  But I admit, when a good friend or family member says “Look at that amazing-looking bird!” I will respond with some phrasing that clarifies the species name of the Aves in question.  “Yes, isn’t that a beautiful Great Blue Heron?” 

Or a friend will say, “Goodness, look at that!”  And I’ll reply, “Doesn’t the Great Blue Heron have an extraordinary neck?”

My taxonomy clarification of a “bird” is not based on snobbery.  I simply believe that saying “bird” does not pay homage to these feathered beauties and their unique species attributes.  I prefer to be called by name—shouldn’t they?

And so this past week found me walking my neighborhood (in between torrential rains).  I was not chasing birds but looking for photographic opportunities to practice depth of field techniques with my 180mm macro lens.  A friend called me to suggest that I check out a colony of mushrooms sprouting against the trunk of one of our neighborhood’s beautifully-canopied Live Oak trees.

And even though my depth of field technique needs work, I was pleased to sight and photograph these lovely mushrooms:  

  

Those mushrooms:

What kind of mushrooms?  I really don’t know.  But aren’t they pretty?

My best guess is a hypholoma fasciculare, or sulfur tuft mushroom.  But this guess reminds me of a beginning birder spotting a fairly large white bird and guessing a Snowy Egret, only to learn it is a juvenile Little Blue Heron.

And so I think of one of my favorite words that carries a meaning not commonly understood:  manna (as in “manna from heaven”); my understanding (confirmed by an online search engine) is that the Hebrew definition of manna quite literally means “What is it?”  So those 40-year wanderers would sight some cache from heaven, run over to it and wonder:  “What is it?”  I can’t help but picture a great cartoon series of the “What is it?” kind.

So next time you sight a bird, a mushroom or some other natural wonder, ask yourself “What is it?”  A bit of manna from Mother Nature…

(And if one of my blog readers happens to know the “What is it” answer for these mushrooms, your non-snobbish factoid knowledge would be greatly appreciated.)