Favoritos de zitserm

Hopping around on the ground and making little leaps into the air, presumably to catch insects. The first 11 photos show a narrow parabolic path taken by this bird as he/she leaps into the air and returns to the ground. Photo 6 shows the bird perfectly upright at the top of the parabolic arch.

Pale belly with dark streaks and a yellow spot. Wings are a blue gray with two white bars (these are the tips of the upper wing/shoulder feathers, which I think are called coverts ). White eye brow and a white line under the eye. When in flight, a bright yellow posterior/undertail is flashed (see last two photos of the bird taking off and flashing the bright yellow undertail).

Powdery mildew on Chionanthus virginicus (White fringetree)

Appendages on chasmothecia are often curled at the tips. Asci seem to contain 8 elliptical, warted spores.

Queens, NY - deciduous woods

Powdery mildew on American beech leaves. Light hyphal mat on the upper leaf surface. I found chasmothecia on the lower leaf surface. Appendages on chasmothecia are intricately branched. At the point of the attachment of each appendage, there was a yellowish brown "pedestal".

Plump brown bird with barring on wings and tail. White eyebrow. Pale belly that is mottled. Some white specks on the shoulders. He was hoping along the pine log, going back and forth, and under the upturned roots.

Lower flowers, which appear bud like when closed, were open on several of these Beechdrops plants. The open flowers contained a mass of tiny, pale, somewhat oblong structures that were stuck together. They appeared moist and resembled ant larvae. Speaking of ants, I observed several Yellow-footed ants (Nylanderia flavipes) exploring these open flowers - perhaps they too thought that these reproductive structures looked like their infants. Sources online suggest that these "cleistogamous" flowers are self fertile and don't require to be pollinated or open. Since they are open now, I assume that they have self fertilized and that the pale mass of oblong granules will soon turn into seeds.

For observation of the ants see:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/244318589

Powdery mildew on Ostrya virginiana (a tree that is very rare in New York City). Queens, NY

Several mature chasmothecia are shown. Under a 10x hand lens, the chasmothecia look like tiny beads or donuts - they appear to have a depression in the center. They have appendages that resemble round flasks with very long necks. The immature chasmothecia have only circular appendages, without the long necks. Bursting a chasmothecium releases yellow liquid.

Powdery mildew on Eurybia divaricata.

I had trouble finding chasmothecia on the leaves. I included some microscopy of what I thought could be a crushed chasmothecium. It has acute hairs, and I see red structures within it - perhaps this is a tiny animal?? I do see what look like pumpkin seed shaped spores, so perhaps those are conidia of this powdery mildew. I hope some folks will weigh in on the microscopy images.

I created a separate observation for the mysterious animal with the sharp hairs: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/244033289

I first observed this group of three plants the day before (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132228070), and I returned this evening to get photos showing the prickles at the base of the petioles. Three plants, one larger than the others at a foot or so tall and fairly erect. No flowers open this evening, but in my experience with other species in the genus farther south, the flowers might only open for a couple of hours midday. The plants are clearly in active bloom and setting seed.

It's my first time finding this species! On a living Pin oak (Quercus palustris), about 4 feet from the ground. This polypore superficially resembles the Dyer's polypore, which grows on conifers. Like the Dyer's polypore, the Shaggy bracket has yellowish, ochre bands of color zones. Soft and moist to the touch, very fuzzy, stains dark brown when handled. The hairs are bristly and look like tiny bottle brushes (see closeup in photo 2). No noticeable odor. A dark brown, dried out conk could be seen right underneath the fresh one. I'm assuming that's last year's conk. This fungus is used medicinally in Eastern Asia as part of cancer and diabetes treatment.

Powdery mildew on Quercus sect Lobatae (Q. rubra or Q. velutina) sapling.

Appendages on chasmothecia mostly unbranched, but I found a few that had branched appendages. Perhaps the branching has to do with mature vs immature chasmothecia? Ascospores two and three septate.

Diderma subfloriformis

Spores: dense small warts
Capillitum: profuse, flexuose and pale with swollen parts, maybe warts
Sporocyst: globose, pale grey, light ochraceous, dehiscence near petaloid. Dark grey/blue when immature
Sporocarps: ±1.3mm

Powdery mildew on Cornus sp

Chasmothecia with their candelabra like appendages are shown. The closeups of the appendages are under 400x magnification.

For the host plant, Cornus alternifolia, see
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/240412261