Stub Steward State Park

We went roaming around Stub Stewart State Park on a sunny afternoon.  Many visitors become familiar with it because they host Star Parties there (March through September if the skies are clear).  It's also a very popular spot to camp and there are cabins available. We thought there might be snow, as we have found it here when there is none in most of Portland.  But it lingered only in patches.  We had to stop and look at things close up to find wonders.

Lipstick cladonia lichen.

It's a squirrel's dining room table after a messy meal!  Note the core of the Douglas fir pinecone
it dismantled in the back.

This fungi loves this time of year.  They seem to appear,
often in rings, in great abundance.

Pixie cup lichen.

There are always lots and lots of newts frisking around
in the Beaver Pond.  Even in January.

Jasper was amazed to see a very large, dead dragonfly in the middle of  the Boomscooter Pond.  Upon
closer examination we discovered it was a stick, its reflection, and ice crystals forming around it.