We’re going on a fungi hunt
After the passing weather front
Chitinous forms are bared
I’m not scared!
Oh no, a fungi!
What ever could it be?
Can’t find it in the book
No matter how hard I look
Can’t find it online
I’ll have to ask Kevin!
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation this morning as I entered the Woodlands at the thought of a mini Fungi Foray to start the day. Robins and Blackbirds were happily singing away as I checked on the progress of a small emerging fungi cluster, likely a Sulphur Tuft or a Brick Tuft. I’ll keep you posted. Also on display were several magnificent Branched Oyster and a lot of scattered Jelly Ear. The red bracket fungus is still awaiting a concrete ID.
Moving on to Long Meadow I began to hear the calls of Chaffinches and Goldfinches, as well as the low drone of hundreds of flying insects. The grassland was again a multi-level tableau, with Tall Fescue towering over Pale Flax, with Common Spotted Orchids beneath and layers of Birds Foot Trefoil at their bases. Beautiful.
I then took a quick detour to the Large Copse, rooting around the Honey Bee hive amidst Sow Thistle, Globe Thistle, Burdock and Teasel. No results there. I did see a Meadow Brown alighting on an Elder tree though, which was very nice.
Crossing the Car Park I notes Shepherds Purse, Ox Eye Daisies and a Pyramidal Orchid on my way to check on the Pocket Plum Galls, a strange mutation of sloes caused by the fungus Taphrina Pruni. Some of them were coated in a thin white film, the spores of the fungus being distributed by the hijacked fruit.
On the Coast Path I counted around 170 Guillemots on the water, 100 more on the ledge above. A Red Admiral fluttered past as I climbed up the Mile Marker slope, passing delicate Eyebright and stems of Yellow Wort. At the top I encountered an Orange Tip and a Common Blue, the unbroken white wing border identifying it as it opened its wings to the sun.