Checking up on the Inonotus obliquus fruiting body on Yellow Birch.
The fruiting bodies have not disappeared in the 13 days since I discovered them.  So the information that these fruiting bodies are hard to find because they are eaten up by critters within a few days, is wrong.  In fact I discovered a 3rd fruiting body on the same tree when I noticed another section of bark peeling off. 

When I first discovered the fruiting bodies on 9/12/08 I noticed this white mold growing on one of them.

This mold appears to be spreading.  Here is the 3rd fruiting body which has mold growing on most of it.

Here is a picture of the entire 3rd fruiting body.  It is about 7" wide at the widest point and about 2' high.  To the left is bark I pulled back to expose the fruiting body.  It is hanging there as if an open door.

Mold covers this part of the fruiting body.

Some of the old fruiting body is still visible.  Shown here below where I removed a section to the bare wood,  On the upper left a portion has dried out and peeled down and to the left.  This shows the brown flesh of the fruiting body underneath.