Alder

“In winter flocks of siskin and redpoll frequent the reserve, feeding on alder.”

Too late, I think they already did.

Nikon D5200 Tamron 70-300mm f32 70mm 1/60 ISO 3200

An even older alder cone on the ground was covered with this yellow slime mold (?). Stupidly I didn’t photograph the characteristic yellow dendritic threads nearby which led me to identify it as a slime mold.