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Sunday 11 November 2018

Autumn Advancing...

Fencepost of the Week #173


Autumn advancing in the background. #FencepostOfTheWeek

Sunday 4 November 2018

Clump of Cups

Fencepost of the Week #172


Sunday 21 October 2018

Long-forgotten

Fencepost of the Week #171


Long-forgotten fencepost, deep in the woods.

Sunday 7 October 2018

Excessive..?

Fencepost of the Week #170


Is this too much? I don't even know...

Sunday 30 September 2018

Forest Light

Fencepost of the Week #169


Dramatically lit forest fencepost.

Friday 28 September 2018

More Blobs

Every so often I find a strange blob of something growing in the woods. Trying to identify what they are is often challenging - it's hard to tell if they are fungi or slime moulds or something else entirely (eg. star slime from gutted toads.)

 But this week, with the aid of a slightly more comprehensive field guide, I resolved two of my longest standing mystery blobs:

Tremella steidleri
Blob 1 was an impressive gelatinous lump I found growing on the side of a mossy oak in 2007. Revisiting the site last week, I found a smaller but similar blob. It was right next to some Stereum hirsutum brackets, and looking through Tremella again I found this species which has a distinctive, knotty form, and a distinctive, frosty bloom. The way the ageing fruiting body disintegrates into slime might also be distinctive enough to aid in identifying similar blobs.


Postia ptychogaster - old, weathered specimen

Postia ptychogaster - fresh specimen

Blobs 2 & 3: One from 2010 and one from 2016, I couldn't figure these out until I was looking up a very ordinary bracket fungus from the genus Postia  and saw an illustration of Postia ptychogaster on the same page.




Tuesday 25 September 2018

Yellow Club Fungus

Yellow Club Fungus - Clavulinopsis helvola


Yellow Club Fungus - Clavulinopsis helvola



Sunday 23 September 2018

Friday 21 September 2018

Jelly Tongue Fungus

Psuedohydnum gelatinosum - Jelly Tongue Fungus

Twenty Plume Moth

Alucita hexadactyla - twenty plume moth

Alucita hexadactyla - twenty plume moth

Alucita hexadactyla - twenty plume moth. Back-lit to show wing structure.

Sunday 16 September 2018

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Loch Garten Foray

I had a wonderful hour nosing round the pine woods NW of Loch Garten near Aviemore yesterday. It's a long way from my usual haunts and the extensive woodland was supporting large populations of many new and unfamiliar fungi.

Cortinarius violaceus

Cortinarius armillatus

Leccinum cyaneobasileucum

Chroogomphus rutilus

Tapinella atrotomentosa


...and a few old favourites.


The miller - Clitopilus prunulus

Wooly milkcap - Lactarius torminosus

Orange birch bolette - Leccinum versipelle

Fly agaric - Amanita muscaria

Sunday 9 September 2018

Sunday 2 September 2018

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Crested Coral Fungus


Clavulina coralloides - Crested Coral Fungus

An unusually neat, near circular patch of crested coral fungus.

Clavulina coralloides - Crested Coral Fungus

Sunday 26 August 2018

Thursday 23 August 2018

Laccria bicolor



This is Laccaria bicolor - one of the deceivers. Its distinguishing characteristic is the purple down covering the lower part of its stipe.



It grows on nutrient poor, acidic soils and has recently been observed killing and digesting insects (springtails in particular.)  It absorbs nitrogen from the springtails and trades it for carbon with neighbouring trees via ecto-mycorrhizal connections.


Here is a clear (if slightly sensationalist) description of the discovery.




Wednesday 22 August 2018

Lactarius chrysorrheus

Lactarius chrysorrheus
Lactarius chrysorrheus is a milkcap that grows under oaks and exudes yellow milk.

Sunday 19 August 2018

Adder Newborns




I saw this adder mating back in May. Since then it has been basking in the same place most days. Then this morning there were three baby adders curled up in the grass next to it!


For 1-day olds, they are pretty adventurous...





 ...but still make time for snuggles.




Not Living Up To Expectations

Fencepost of the Week #163

This fencepost failing to contribute fully, but doing it with style.

Saturday 18 August 2018

Young Adder Sloughing



I was lucky enough to come across this yearling adder shedding its skin in the rain today. ^_^



Friday 17 August 2018

Blue Train Millipede



This is Parafontaria tonomineai - ミドリババヤスデ - a rather splendid blue millipede from Japan.


Alder Bracket Droplets

Inonotus radiatus - alder bracket

Lovely droplets on some fresh Inonotus radiatus fruiting bodies!

Inonotus radiatus - alder bracket


...and a more typical set of Inonotus radiatus brackets:

Inonotus radiatus - alder bracket