Life on Toft Logs

Though more or less confined to home by the aftermath of a Christmas Bug, I did manage a walk to the old railway track in Toft to gather a log or two for slime moulds etc which I photographed back at base. I think the first three are all stages of Hemitrichia spp but was excited by the very small black shiny balls thinking a new species of mould but turns out they are a ?mite species. There was also one very active Ichneumon which I am sure is Ophion obscuratus,the Cream-striped Darwin Wasp which does not hibernate in the winter, instead, it disappears for a few months in the late spring and early summer. The female lays her eggs inside the caterpillars of different species of nocturnal moths. The green coloration of the oak log is a funal infection and I collected a piece of coal from the track to see if it had any moulds - negative so far (Oxford Cambridge line ran steam trains from 1860s to 1940s through Toft)

Elisabeth Line Stations London

I think this is my final set of images taken in London in 2024 - a journey from Woolwich exploring the Elisabeth Line Stations  - lots of shiny steel, white surfaces, polished wood and perforations.

The Start of 2025 in Toft Wood

 Our village is repeating the initiative from 2020 of recording the village, its customs, people, buildings, wildlife etc. As part of that initiative,  I compiled a book all about Toft wood which was planted by the villagers in 1995. This year as part of its 30th Anniversary, I hope to complete a more thorough wildlife survey. So today I headed down the hill and into the wood in warm sunshine and recorded any signs of spring and also made a start on the mosses - a group I haven't tackled before. Very surprised when I processed my stack of images of a moss on a tree trunk (living hawthorn) to find several fruiting bodies of a very small slime mould species (?) (confirmation or not to follow). Otherwise Hazel catkins, male and female, are fully out while Alder catkins, snowdrops and Arum lily are unfurling their flowers

Canary Wharf at Dusk

 Still a few images to share from the Docklands trip - here a walk around the Canary Wharf area as the light faded and the lights took over.

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!