16 kg Chicken of the Woods Champion, and other early June fungi finds

Hola, setero! Today I had an exciting encounter in the local park. My wife and I had a little shopping business after dinner, and on the way back home strolled leizurely thru the local park. There was this gigantic silver willow near the pond ...

...which housed a huge colony of a fungus named 'Chicken of the Woods'. It more than edible -- one of the most tasty species out there for your forageable table. I noticed it cause I was looking above for starlings in the foliage; it was sitting pretty far above my head and on the shady side of the tree. All this did not benefit mush for cool captures, so I clicked the trigger once, tried to estimate respectively the weight of the colony - and moved along.

But I didn't get far from said tree; my wife made the next find faster than me. On the other, sunnier side of the willow (yet hidden from me)...

...were sitting TWO colonies of this fungi! This willow ofc was not a sequoia, but it was big, really big - perhaps the arms of two people could have embraced it.

Thus, it had enough nutrients to serve as a substrate for three huge, flourishing fungi colonies. And here I come to the question: what could have been the total weight of this find? I wrote "16 kilograms" in the title, but I really don't know: 15? 20? 25? Besides, two other colonies were located lower on the tree trunk, at accessible hand distance, and thus part of the fungi already had been squashed / cut off. And I'm not convinced it was foraged, no... perhaps (even more likely) it was simply some cretins who destroyed something they didn't understand, and which frightened them. Many people are afraid / feeling prejudice of mushrooms, you know... A mother with her toddler stopped to watch me taking pictures - and I briefly educated her this was an edible and tasty fundus, reminiscent of chicken meat (which is precisely why it has such a peculiar name). But I don't know if it will help...

Ива была столь гигантских размеров, что у нее хватило питательных веществ чтобы послужить субстратом для трех огромных, цветущим грибных колоний. И здесь я подхожу к вопросу: каким мог быть суммарный вес этой находки? Я Написал в заглавии "15 килограмм", но на самом деле я не знаю. 15? 20? 25? К тому же, эти две колонии располагались на стволе дерева ниже, на достижимом расстоянии, и часть гриба уже была срезана. Я не убежден что это был именно сбор для использования гриба в кулинарных целях, нет.... возможно (и вероятнее всего) это невежды и кретины уничтожили то в чем они ни бельмеса не понимают, и что их пугает. Многие боятся грибов, да... Я проинформировал одну проходившую мимо маму с ребенком (они остановились поглядеть, как я делаю снимки) - проинформировал их, что это съедобный гриб, напоминающий куриное мясо, именно этот факт и дал ему такое своеобразное название. Но я не знаю, поможет ли это ...

This is no questions -- the biggest chicken of the Wood I've ever found!

The fungus is still located quite high, above the arms of a tall person. Although, a reasonable person still can arm themselves with a stick to knock down anything out of reach.

Then I found two more mushrooms, but the rest of my finds pale in comparison to the Chickens. I didn't even bother taking many photos, as I was satiated. A few fresh champignons...

...and the last one for today: a family of toadstools.

My dedicated macro lens Sigma 150mm stayed at home, it probably would do the job better, but I was borrowing 70-20mm telephoto today -- so I enjoyed the results I had, as well.

Hope you received all deserved fun from walking and watching, thanks for your visit -- see you next time!

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_{This header was created by @riverflows}