A Walk in the Woods on a Misty, Warm, January Day

With temperatures in the 50s and only a light mist falling intermittently, I decided to take time off from yard and garden clean-up chores to walk through the woods and see what's up. Lots of plants leafing out but no flowers yet. Fungi and moss and ferns were the headliners.

On dead and fallen trees were these amazing huge fungus "conks"...

Lots of moss and fern covered trees...

Signs of flowers to come...

Our seasonal pond was full and clear, with lots of little critters in it, including newts and caddisfly larvae: tiny creatures hiding inside their makeshift tubes that look like sticks walking across the pond bottom. I picked one up but it refused to come out and walk across my hand.

Those little things that look like whitish sticks are really tiny caddisfly larva inside tubes they've patched together out of bits of leaves and stuff.

One of those I put on my hand and zoomed the camera way up, but the critter is inside and camera shy.

 I put it back in the water. It is the lighter tube left of the skinnier light tube in this photo.

 I walked on to our little creek that flows into Agency with its bridge and more moss and fern covered trees...

Our mini waterfall on the little creek...

 Walking back toward the house, I saw our resident female American Kestrel on the tip of the sequoia in the goat pasture, a long way away. I hope she decides to stay and nest here.

Back by the shop building, one of the many Northern Flickers around lately was working on the trunk of a tree. I've been seeing nine at a time. I don't remember ever having so many Flickers together here in the past.

Then it was time to clear out the raised beds. There was enough greenery for a salad tonight. And about a zillion tiny beet plants from beets I let go to seed last year. They need to be thinned and transplanted. This warm weather makes me think it's time to plant the garden... and so I did the next day, peas and lettuce and radishes and spinach. Onions were up from last year's seeds and as thick as the beets.  But winter may not be done with us yet...