Fungi at RSPB Sandy - Afternoon

 In the afternoon yesterday, we went down the steep stepped path into an area that is always good for fungi and spent time there searching out and photographing some very attractive species. I also got distracted taking focus stacks of this very hairy fly - Suillia species.

Slime Moulds and Fungi

A selection of Slime Moulds and Fungi found in a small wood in Cambridgeshire on fallen trees including Beech. There is one very small toadstool that I can't even guess what it might be. I suspect there may be some corrections to several others!

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

Technicolour Sunrise in Toft

With clear skies and minus 4 degrees, yesterday's sunrise was spectacular - bright yellow/orange skies contrasting with the heavily frosted foliage. I decided a walk across the Golf Course might give some atmospheric shots but got distracted en route to the Church Drift by the colours and light patterns in the village and some frosted fungi, berries and daisies!

Ash Die-Back and Woodland Birds

Hardwick Wood is one of East Anglia's Ancient woodlands and its Ash trees are suffering badly with Ash Dieback - the tell-tale white twigs can be seen in the woodland panorama with close ups to follow. The fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causes the lethal disease and represents a substantial threat. It was detected in the UK for the first time in 2012 and is now very widespread. The fungus blocks water and nutrients moving in the tree's vascular system, causing a restriction in water movement that leads to a significant leaf loss, bark lesions and then the dieback in the crown of the tree itself (hence the name). The loss of the Ash trees will affect the wood - there will be fewer trees for the nesting Buzzards and Kites though hole-nesters such as the Tits, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Tree Creepers may gain temporarily