Cranes

The cranes (Grus grus) are returning from the south!


A few dozen among the thousands circling and wheeling under a pale daytime moon, today.

Bird's Nest Orchid

Seven degrees below zero this morning; and the last snow does not melt.
What is this dead, brown, stalk between the fallen leaves and a patch of snow?
 

It is the remnant of a Bird's Nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), a stalk with empty seed pods.

In May it looked like this. Also brown, but a bit more pale. It has no green at all, and that's why it can live under the shadowy canopy. It gets its nutrients from the roots of other plants, not from photosynthesis.












The Ivy (Hedera helix) in the picture lives also under the canopy, but it is still green when after the falling of the leaves the winter sun reaches the forest floor.