Late November is a time we see nature settling in for the coming cold.
In preparation for winter, most of our songbirds are gone. Further south, they will be better able to find food and shelter to cope. Many of those staying with us through the coming season are the non-migratory birds that change to a diet of seeds and berries. Chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays and woodpeckers all do well here. Others wintering with us come from the far north. For pine grosbeaks, redpolls, snow buntings and Bohemian waxwings, this is further south.
Hibernating mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects have begun their long sleep. Any still out, now are gathering bedtime snacks and will not be seen much more, even on the milder days.
We usually think of animals as preparing for winter, but so do plants.
Deciduous trees, having dropped their leaves, are now ready for the cold. Leaves make food for the trees, but they also allow the plant to lose much water. During the arid days of winter, these broadleaf trees would dehydrate if they kept leaves. Conifers, with their thin leaves (needles) are able to cope with winter better by remaining foliated.
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Some plants of the forest floor: mosses, clubmosses and a few flowering plants such as wintergreen, hepatica and pyrola will remain green all winter. They use the dead leaf cover along with the snowpack to coat themselves like a blanket through the deepest cold.
Fungi will usually not grow in winter. Darkness does not slow fungi much, but cold and dryness does. Mushroom season is well past and they will not be seen again until the wet warmth of spring.
The diverse fungi do have some that remain alive. Those are easy to see now and through the coming cold, even though they are not growing. Best known of these winter fungi are the shelf fungi. Also known as bracket fungi, their growths stick out from tree trunks and stumps in a flat shape parallel to the ground. Many kinds exist here in the Northland. Some are specific to certain trees such as birch and conifers. Others will grow on nearly any available site.
One such fungus is called turkey tail. This unusual fungus name refers to the concentric circles and color patterns seen on the top side. The fungus may grow near the ground on a sawed stump or higher on a tree trunk, but always on the same plane as the forest floor.
Some shelf fungi grow for many years and become hard as wood. Not so with the turkey tail. Even though it is perennial and may be seen all winter and more to come, it is quite flexible.
Turkey tail fungus, clustered in 5- to 10-inch growths, provides for a pleasant sight for anyone taking a stroll in the late November woods.
Larry Weber is the author of six books, including "Fascinating Fungi of the North Woods."
