Tanglewood

Spent a lovely several hours in the Berkshires attending one of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's (BS0) rehearsals at Tanglewood. Recorded just a snippet of Yefim Bronfman "practicing" Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 with the BSO while lounging on the lawn in the shade of a tree and snacking on crackers and cheese.

Ticks!

I've read that ticks are a growing problem here in western Massachusetts as well as many other places around the United States. I didn't discover any after hiking this trail, but only days later, I did pull one off of my ankle after hiking another trail. You really can't be too careful. 

Enfield Look Out

Yeah, okay. I know it doesn't look like that much. But that's because the town of Enfield was flooded to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir. It used to occupy the land just below that hill (Mt. Ram?) in the center background. A branch of the reservoir actually stretches between those trees in the foreground and the hill beyond. This map does a great job at explaining what you're seeing.

Hairy Parchment?

I'm still not able to positively identify more than probably a handful of mushrooms, if even that many.

What I have learned to do, however, is to pay close--well, closer--attention to the details surrounding said mushrooms. In the case of the mushroom shown above, I 'm pretty sure that it's attached to the what remains of a deciduous tree. That alone, I understand, whittles down the possibilities. Now, as to whether it is actually a Hairy Parchment mushroom, who knows? It certainly share a number of its characteristics. Spotted along the Enfield Lookout Trail near Ware, Massachusetts.