Bourn Walk

 As I needed to go to the Surgery in Bourn this morning and it wasn't raining, I walked over via the edge of the golf course where there is a well-established Hawthorn hedge which yielded quite a few clumps of Fungi, a couple of Slime moulds and several vibrant lichen species. There was a lot of water in the Bourn Brook but fortunately no flooding on the walk. 

Extending Paxton Lichen/Fungi List

An enjoyable walk round Heronry trail at Paxton yesterday in the sunshine spending some time in the scrubland near the Quarry photographing a few more lichens and fungi. The most interesting find for me was this bright pink lichenocolous fungus - Illosporiopsis christiansenii parasitic on Physcia tenella and sometimes also on Xanthoria parietina. It grows in and on the host lichen, feeding from it, degrading it, and eventually killing it. You can see in the second image bottom right the areas or sick or dead lichen of both species. I will add the ID sheet when completed.

RSPB Sandy Walk with Paxton Volunteers

A very enjoyable walk round RSPB Sandy today - the rain that was expected in the morning didn't arrive though the afternoon proved wetter than forecast. We were mainly hunting for interesting fungi, slime moulds and lichens but with the warmer temperatures some of the creatures were on the move. I have never recorded the Spotted Snake Millipede before so that was a good find. There were lots of brackets and crusts on the trunks, a few 'toadstools and we found a few slime moulds though not as many as I hoped. Tentative IDs in the sheets.

 

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.