Coot Territorial Disputes

The golden afternoon directional light gave some great colours to the water and spray yesterday afternoon at Paxton Pits as the Coots repeatedly argued about the position of their territory boundaries while the Bluetits fed on the Willow catkins above my head (where did the 2 hours go?!!)

Paxton Stump Revisited

Another hour spent photographing the fungi and slime moulds etc growing on the large Willow stump at Paxton. Many of the Fenugreek Stalkballs have matured and are spreading spores while new fruiting bodies are appearing in other cracks. The yellow Actinia Slime moulds have also matured and burst open. The spiral basket structure is the seed of the Bur Clover Medicago polymorpha which cover the Redlands area of Paxton last year (though not identified as such) but was absent this. The info suggests it can be Annual or Biennial so will see what happens in 2025. The crusty growth I think is Steccherinum ochraceum Ochre spreading tooth but will have to keep an eye on this one. No IDs on the last two yet!