Madingley Wood - Elf Cups and other Fungi among the Snowdrops

A visit to Madingley Hall this morning in bright sunshine revealed a single Scarlet Elf Cup along with a couple of Slime Moulds with number of different fungi and slime moulds among the newly emerging Snowdrops, Aconites and Spurge Laurel. More fungi etc to follow.

Close-up Photography Hardwick Wood

I was a bit late to capture the beautiful frost this morning which rapidly melted in the sunshine but the latter allowed some detailed and colourful close-ups of mosses, lichens and fungi in Hardwick Woods. The birds obviously thought spring might be on the way with Mistle Thrush, Woodpeckers, Nuthatch, and Tits all singing and even a Tawny Owl decided to add to the woodland sound track.

 

More Paxton Lichens

I did a short walk to the edge of Redlands on Saturday to photograph a few more of Paxton's lichens - these on the twigs and fallen branches of the Oaks, Hawthorn, Field Maple etc  and the very sandy dry soils. The most interesting find was the first photo a lichenocolus fungus species (Zygzygomyces physciacearum) - the brown blobs!- which grows specifically on Physcia adscendens, (Lichens themselves are a symbiosis between fungi and lichens where the fungus partner becomes lichenised.) The various Cladonia lichens I photographed are definetly the most attractive genus

Some of Paxton Pits Lichens

Lichens are one group that I haven't attempted to survey at Paxton Pits so 2026 is their year! 

Here are the lichens we found in a group of Hawthorn bushes at the end of Heronry North with preliminary identifications. It will take some attempts to even decide which are different species or different stages.

Toft Wood After the Snow

Yesterday, as soon as the sun was high enough to thaw the icy bit of Miller's Road for walking, I headed down to Toft Wood with my camera. There was a combination of a light layer of snow on the grounds and trees augmented by frost in the damper parts by the Bourn Brook - a very magical look with the reds of the berries and autumn oak leaves. After half an hour exploring, I headed out of the wood and round to the allotments via the Badger Sett. Very pleased to see plenty of characteristic very broad flat badger footprints at the entrance to the hole (with Rabbit and Pheasant)