Its surprising to see fungi as anything else than fungi, like creepy plant/animal things that grow in some of the grossest places. But fungi really are diverse, on a macro level the most easily observable fungi are mushrooms. While it wasn't surprising that I didn't see thee iconic red and white dotted mushroom (Fly agaric), there was plenty of mushrooms around Boston College. With the cold weather coming up it would make sense to see mushrooms growing as other plants die - playing their role as decomposers. As we have learned fungi (including mushrooms) are chemoheterotroph, and within the class tree they fall under Opisthokonta. It's interesting to think about the large diversity within the fungi group from macroscales like mushroom to smaller levels like microsporidians that could lead to HIV and potato blight fungus that lead to mass famine.

First nature walk around Chestnut Hill reservoir. Since I went pretty late in the evening, it was pretty chilly (62F) and dark. Since it’s early in the fall season, I expected more colored trees and dying plants. Despite so most of the plants didn't die off as I was expecting with the chilly weather. I did notice that more of the individual plant were dying however the ones that grew in bushes or in larger group were mostly green. Surprisingly there were some flowers as well, although there were not in full bloom. I noticed some colored vine which surprised me since I wasn’t expecting vines to change color in the season. Nearing the end of my walk I noticed some birds in the reservoir including some ducks and swans (Genus Anas and perhaps the Mute Swan - Cygnus olor). Since it was late, it was surprising to see any animals out or that there would be a population of birds in the reservoir.