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.

Christmas Log

Amazing what grows/lives in and on the various logs I have scattered round the garden. I am resisting trying to identify all the Collembolids as I think it might be a very time-consuming job - I am not even sure whether the long-legged creatures in the tird and fourth photos are Collembolids! Lots of mini fungi Grey caps, Fire Rug and Jellies plus a spikey slime mould, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, and what I think is Nectria gracilipes, a fungus same genus as coral spot.

Toft Minifungi and Slime Moulds

With the recent damp weather, my log pile is beginning to show some slime moulds and minifungi. Tentative IDs are under the photos - certainly the first one is a species of Trichia slime mould and the fourth/fifth are a very strange eyeball like fungus, Lasiophaeria ovina.

Slime Moulds in Toft Leaf and Log Piles

Amazed at the number of slime moulds that have erupted on the leaves and stalks in my compost area while the logs continue to fruit further specimens. The first three are Didymium squamulosum and the next two Comatrichia species but, the others I need help identifying especially the white lumpy fruiting bodies (now identified as young Didymium squamulosum) and the final species with Collembolids (ID Arcyria spp).