Dave W Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Well, at least it's that time 100 miles south of my area. Thanks to Evan for sharing his early morel spot, at least I got to find a few today. Morchella angusticeps (Black Morel) and Morchella punctipes (American Half-Free Morel). Also, some False Morels. The one seen in the photo is Gyromitra korfii. And a few other types of mushrooms. Discina ancilis = Discina perlata. At least this is the current status of my ID on these. Tomorrow I'll examine some microscopic characters. Agrocybe species. Agrocybe is a genus of mushrooms found on wood, woody debris, or ornamental wood chips. Some ocur during spring, others during fall. Coprinellus micaceus, Mica Cap Inky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladyflyfsh Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Nice, Dave. I wish I could have joined you guys. My plans are still up in the air at the moment but morels don't seem to be in any hurry in my PA area anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotabob Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Hi Dave, it is good to see that you finally had some action. Our soil temperatures here are only 41 degrees. So, I have a while before I will be doing any collecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DufferinShroomer Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Go Dave! The Liberal Party has cancelled morels in Ontario this year and there is a rumor that they may cancel summer as well. Our season is a solid 3 weeks behind normal now and the forecast is for a week of slightly below normal temperatures. Ugggggh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotabob Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 DufferinShroomer, I talked a friend of mine you outside Grand Marias, MN. They just received 11 inches of snow on Friday. They are now back up to 2 feet of snow on the ground. Our snow is gone at least out this way. Think WARM thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Nice going, I guess its time, hopin to hit the ridges this week . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Still no morels here in NE PA. I needed to drive 100 miles south of here to find anything. Our local club has a foray tomorrow. I'm hoping we find at least something. At times like this, even an LBM seems exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Found my first local morels of the year today. This is the latest date for which I have found the first blacks, and they were in a spot that typically produces the earliest ones. In 2012 I found my first blacks in this exact same spot... on March 23, my record earliest. Tulip Poplars are the only large hardwoods just beginning to show green. May apples, trillium, and fiddleheads (fern sprouts) have appeared. According to the local NOAA weather station, the month of of April was 0.2F degrees below normal, seemingly not cool enough to have slowed down the onset of spring to this extent. We've had some mild sunny days, but I suppose the effect upon the soil temp often amounted to little more than a recovery from a frosty morning. January, February, March were all significantly below normal, which apparently has contributed to the late-developing spring. One mid-April cold snap was a setback. Saw this wooly bear caterpillar today. According to info I just found, this type caterpillar which is often seen in the fall, thaws out in early spring. Seems like an unusual thing to see at this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotabob Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Better late than never! Soil temperatures are in the low 40's here. We are going to be late here again but I doubt it will be as late as last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastwx Posted May 3, 2014 Report Share Posted May 3, 2014 Congrats Dave! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualsetters Posted May 4, 2014 Report Share Posted May 4, 2014 Good find Dave. I didn't get to my poplar forests this year, but am going to take a look at some local yellow morel spots today. If no I may go take a walk in some poplar runs later this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 We hunted the peach orchard up the road today. Altogether I think we got around 90 yellows. And my parents picked 220 there on Thu. Not too bad, but we've gotten a lot more than that other years. Not that I'm complaining. It was a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotabob Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Good job Evan! We got snow again today. So, it will be a few weeks yet for me. Thanks for posting your pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 What a haul! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Nice Evan! And I think they'll keep popping down your way for at least another week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Unfortunately, this is an active orchard and I think the farmer probably sprayed today. But, on a better note, Harmony caught the accompaniment to the morels at the rod and gun club pond tonight! This is the first time we caught a palomino and we got two. Plus a 16" rainbow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Wait a minute Evan, I have a peach orchard. I have to spray antifungals on those trees every week to try to stay ahead of brown rot. And you get morels out of them. It ain't fair, I tell you. Please tell me it is an old and untended peach orchard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 No. This orchard is in full production. I guess the fungicides don't penetrate the soil so the morels grow every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 Those are some nice trout, Evan. Harmony looks pretty happy about catching them. Yellow morels are just getting started around here. The same spot in the forest where I get the earliest blacks is also where I usually see the first yellows. These small morels had been called Morchella deliciosa for years, but now the species name is Morchella diminutiva... well, assuming your small yellow forest morel is not actually an example of the look-alike Morchella virginiana. Morel hunters still call them "deliciosas." These "grays" and "yellows" are Morchella americana... at least hopefully for the rest of this week. NA Morchella taxonomy is in a state of flux. These were called Morchella esculenta for years. People still refer to this type as "esculentas." There are a couple eastern NA look-alikes. All species are excellent edibles, if well-cooked... which may be said for all types of true morels. These are immature specimens, probably just emerged within the past two days. I left them to grow. Monday should be a good time to harvest them, and hopefully a few more from this spot. These are growing near recently dead elm trees in a spot that generally produces early. It was not much of a black morel season around here. But I think there will be some good yellows for the next week or so. Polyporus squamosus, common on dead elm. Entoloma vernum, a common toxic springtime mushroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DufferinShroomer Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Geez Evan, the soil in an actively sprayed orchard just has to have a lot of pesticides in the soil. Are you sure you want to be eating mushrooms picked in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Oak Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 I've gone out a number of times to an area that produced upwards of 50 lbs on 2 outings last year....not a dang thing! I don't know what's going on. They are very late in coming to my area this year. And school has been conspiring to screw up my morel season. Last final today and then I'm hitting it hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Very late slow-developing morel season here in eastern NA. East of the Rockies the winter was long and cold. Spring has also been kinda chilly. Today I visited a spot in Maryland that usually peaks during the last week of April. Not many morels, but the ones I did find were fresh. Torrential rainfall about 10 days ago also slowed things down. There will likely be few additional forest morels in this spot. Here in PA my wife and I picked a few nice blacks Thursday. We had checked the spot several times beginning April 15. These popped within the last 5 days. Very late for blacks to arrive. Probably not many more to see this year. But the big yellows that come up under dead elm and dying apple trees are poised to occur in good numbers. Last week's rain and the current warm weather is pretty good timing. Old Oak, I'm guessing you hunt morels under elm...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Dufferin, modern pesticides actually break down after a short period of time, that's why they have to be reapplied. I spray the vineyard at work and I'm much more concerned about exposure then. By the time morels are up in the spring the pesticides are basically gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotabob Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Thanks for the eye candy Dave! I need the pictures to remember what I am looking for. Have a great day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Bob, I must have had some sorta psychic experience today when I snapped these. My intention was to provide visual context for morel hunting. I've been spending a lot of time out in the woods lately, but mostly hypothesizing about why there aren't more morels, as opposed to picking lots of morels. I'm really at a loss for an explanation as to why the yellows have not come on better. Maybe the best is yet to come...? So far this year, numbers of blacks and yellows have been paltry around here. Almost everything I've found has been illustrated on this website. Well, for good measure, here's a "Tulip Morel" I spotted today. the common name refers to this morel's tendency to occur near Tulip Poplar trees. I found this one near White Ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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