Day 170 / Creekside Mushrooms

I set off down the trail along Baird Creek this morning intending to check the flowering status of a single patch of Fleur de lis , the wild Yellow Iris that should be in full bloom right about now. However, as so often happens, I was not far along when something else grabbed my attention; in this case it was a single mushroom at the edge of the trail which caught my eye. Mushrooms are among my most favorite things in the woods so I paused to have a look even though it was clear there was no photo in it. As I stooped to get closer my eye was drawn farther, to the very edge of the nearby creekbank where I spotted an entire colony of the very same mushroom in a prime spot just above the water.
Prime spot as it was composition-wise, the actually shooting was rather difficult. After scrambling down the creekbank to the water, I found that the position I wanted to be in was attainable only by standing IN the creek or by (as I chose to do) balancing awkwardly on a combination of rocks and logs and the bank itself while simulataneously leaning against a tree or the bank with one shoulder in order to steady myself for the shot in fairly poor light. Swatting at the voracious swarm of mosquitoes that descended on me the moment I got into my chosen spot added greatly to the difficulty!