Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Pixie lichen

The first day of my 365 project, back in 2013, was truly full of wonderous scenes to capture. I kept finding lovely subjects but on that day, I really wanted to find a mushroom to begin my project. However, just in case I didn't find one, I took pictures of everything that dazzled me along the way. This adorable Pixie lichen is very common on our property, where it grows in groups on logs, stumps and thick branches on trees. I will also find it adhered to boulders where it nestles among moss and other species of lichen. Barely rising above the snow which surrounded it, I was delighted to find that its cup contained not one droplet, but two, and one of them was still frozen. So special! :)

[best appreciated at full size against black] Little, tiny, itty bitty, eensy, weensy slug! I have Steve to thank for pointing this adorable little guy out to me, and he was hard to spot, measuring only about 1/2 an inch long! Here you can see him motoring along through the foliose lichen and moss forest, with a Pixie lichen towering over him. For another size reference, in the upper left is the "flower" of a moss plant, called a sporophyte...that's SMALL! Finally, you should take a look at where this guy is heading! Why...it's a mushroom! And that is probably what he'll be munching when he arrives, as it's a favorite food for mollusks! (In this image, you can see something on the mushroom...it's a BUG! I wonder if they will share?!) This image was taken in February, 2012.