A surprise forest find

I have something new to share with you guys! At least it's new to me. Do you recognize what this is?

My mom and I were taking a walk in a local park which is surrounded by forest area.

We noticed quite a few trees were down, probably because of the extreme winds we've been having lately. There was one in the center of the trees that was charred looking. Mom suggested that maybe lightning took it down and I wanted to see if I could find any proof of that.

I didn't find any signs of lightning striking the tree, which I assume would be a burnt area on the ground or some sort of crack in the bark. The problem with the tree appeared to be some diseased funky stuff that made it darker.

The forest floor was wet and muddy. I carefully tried to walk on the dry leaves and watch my step. While I was carefully looking at the ground, I spotted something red under one of the leaves.

Not knowing what it was, I took a stick and flicked the leaves off it. After clearing away the leaves, I still wasn't sure what I was looking at.

It appeared to be growing out of the dead trees that were lying on the ground. I thought it might be some sort of fungus. I started poking around other groups of leaves on other fallen trees and found more of these.

Some of them looked like a grapefruit peel.

This one looked like a little tea cup, which fits with one of the names these sometimes go by: scarlet elf cup.

Neither of us had even seen this fungus before, maybe because it likes to hide under the leaves. I did a little research online for images of "red fungus" and not all of those results were pleasant! But after a little scanning, I found what I was looking for.

Its fancy scientific name is Sarcoscypha coccinea. It also goes by some cuter names like scarlet elf cup and scarlet elf cap. Turns out, we saw it where we could expect to - on the forest floor, growing on damp, decaying wood. It was also usual for it to be hiding under old leaves.

Something cool I learned about the scarlet elf cup is that it was used by some Native American tribes, like the Oneida to stop bleeding. They'd first grind the fungus into a powder before applying it to the wound. Isn't it interesting that something so bright red would be used to stop blood? Don't you wonder how early people knew how to do these things? I also learned that in Scarborough, England these little elf caps make decorative additions to centerpieces. I tried to find a photo of one of those, but didn't manage to.

One more piece of trivia about the scarlet elf cap, is that when it lets loose its spores, it makes an actual "poof" sound. Wouldn't that be something to witness?

Do your recognize what this is? It's a magnolia bud. They're very fuzzy and remind me of a rabbit's foot.

I was excited to see a few signs of spring, like this iris.

And this daffodil. It really did feel like spring had arrived that day with the 70° weather.

Does anyone know what this is? I don't...

I liked the way the pine trees were framing the rest of the woods, kind of like a curtain. There are always plenty of pine cones to be found under here.

I know this one is a bit blurry, but it's the only pic I managed to get of this giant bird. I think it was a hawk. 

There were a few more birds to see, like this pair of geese.

Also some adorable ducks.

The sun was really catching this one's colors. Do you see the female next to him? I didn't until I really focused in with my camera. She blended right in with her surroundings.

Hope you enjoyed these glimpses of early spring here, and keep your eyes open if you take a walk in the woods. You might just see some little scarlet elf caps hiding under the leaves!