What do you do with your Turkey Tail?

5th January 2022 5/5

Hello readers, I hope the new year is treating you well.

My mother used to tell me to "Start as you mean to go on Edward". And this year I am doing that, well so far so good anyways.

This is a little pictorial of my first walk in nature, I got sidetracked and the second part of the article from yesterday is coming tomorrow!

If you know me, then you will know that I visit this park often, primarily to feed the animals and then to have a walk.

First up was the boating pond, which since the start of the pandemic has had no boats and is a haven for all kinds of birds. There is a resident pair of swans (Mr Steve and Mrs Susie Swan) who had seven babies or cygnets last year. Unfortunately one of them was eaten by a seagull as a hatchling and now there are six. Swans are very territorial and the male swan has been running off the cygnets and there are now only three left. The other three have departed for pastures new. The male chases the cygnets round and round the island to get them to fly and then leave him and the wife in peace to mate again!

That picture was the first thing I saw today, and it looks like the seagulls are trying to run interference!

I let Dad chase the baby whilst I went to feed the mother and the other two cygnets.

The little brown pellets in the water between the swans is special duck and swan food that I order from Amazon and feed to them. Do you see the two seagulls fighting? When they get too close to the swans, the swans do like to peck them, so the gulls try to get in and quick, but get in each other's way and end up fighting.

I also noticed some new visitors. These are Tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) and the black and white ones are males, whilst the black and brown one is female. They are so cute and not afraid of the swans. They are active divers and if in trouble dive under the swan. The one on the right introduced himself as Tufty ;)

Next, it was time to go and have a walk.

Winter is here and most of the trees are bare and naked without any leaves.

Whilst the sky was a lovely blue, the weather is deceiving, it actually was freezing. I walked through the fountain garden that was created as a memorial to Mayor Beveridge from his wife, after he created the park when she asked for green space to be provided for the townsfolk.

You can see the ice on the fountain pond, and the stick stuck in the frozen ice. A couple of dogs tried to jump in like they normally do but just slid across to the other side of the pond.

Next up, was a walk in the woods.

Nature is amazing, when I come here in the summer, the leaves are on the trees and they actually make it quite dark.

On I walked or more like hiked in amongst the fallen leaves, until I started to go downhill and headed for the river.

However, I had to stop before I got to the river, because I heard a rustle in the leaves. I investigated.

Yes, a wee squirrel wanted some food, so I gave him some oats and nuts and made his day. Do you see how thick his tail is, that is his winter tail, it is so much fluffier in the wintertime. He was new to the area, and trying to find a good tree house, his name is Sunny as he is always like a ray of sunshine to all his friends!

And now on I went, chasing waterfalls until I found them.

Down by the river there are always rotting logs and they are a haven for mushrooms.

By the way what did you eat for Christmas?

In the UK we generally eat turkey.

This is a Trametes versicolor more commonly know as a Turkey Tail, see I thought this would be an apt end to my walk.

Actually, when I got home, I did some research on this Turkey Tail here and here and found out all about its amazing medicinal qualities and it makes awesome turkey Tea too!

Nature is simply amazing, we always can learn from her if we want to, although this is a new week in a new year, I am still learning.

So what do you do with your Turkey Tail? And have you had a nature walk or even a walk this year?

Thank you for reading and have a blessed week 🙏

Copyright @TengoLoTodo    2022 and yes All Rights Reserved. All images, words, and ramblings are from the author unless otherwise stated.

100% original content from this mad Scotsman!

And don't forget ;)

Haste ye back.

Wishing everyone a very very Happy New Year from Scotland.