High Flats State Forest - Part 2

The dogs and I were hiking in High Flats State Forest (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came to a beaver marsh which was down in a valley. We walked down to see it and the three little dogs went exploring. Seamus did not want to cross over the fallen tree trunks to get there, so he just watched:

It was a mysterious, magical place where birds and frogs called all around. Little Jack waked through the water to see what he could find:

Then we climbed back up the hill and continued on our way:

Probably a resident of the nearby beaver marsh, this female Black-Winged Damselfly paid us a visit. I knew it was a female because of the white spot on her wings. I knew it was a Damselfly because she held her wings together when at rest. Dragonflies keep their wings outstretched:

It had become clear to me some time earlier that we were on the wrong trail, but we explored it anyway and then began retracing our steps. When we arrived back at this lovely creek, we stopped for a drink:

Refreshed and happy, we returned to the trail and continued on our way:

As before, the open meadow beside the beaver marsh filled the dogs with joy. I liked it too, with all its Black-Eyed Susans, Queen Anne's Lace and Heal-All flowers:

But the dark forest was just ahead:

It was a lovely trail, and the dogs were by now too tired to run ahead like they had at the beginning. This made for a more peaceful experience:

I stopped for a closer look at this brown, wood-toned (it even had rings) mushroom:

It had rained the previous several days and everything was wet, yet the trail was mostly dry:

This yellow mushroom was just pushing up through the moist earth. I don't know what kind of bright red berry that was next to it. I looked around to see what plant might be near but didn't notice any obvious berry plants:

A Forest Troll:

Lovely brown and yellow mushrooms:

And a toasted looking golden mushroom. We were nearing our starting point but not there yet. I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: