Slime and Other Moulds

Warm and sunny 'spring' day today so lots of insects active in the garden - too many to sort this evening so here some other subjects taken in the bright sunlight - two slime moulds Didymium and Lamproderma species and two fungal species - I think these are Lasiosphaeria ovina and Neodasyscypha species. I was using a 1.4 extender on my 90mm macro lens but cannot focus stack as I need to update the firmware on my quite old camera (the camera predates the lens!)

Paxton Pits Changeable Light

 Yesterday afternoon, I spent an hour watching the Herons and Cormorants busy collecting nesting material and various other water birds while the light changed from bright sunshine to heavy rain and then a rainbow. 

Life in the Compost Bin

The wet and warm weather recently has encouraged a mass of slime moulds in my compost bin. I brought in a Ground Ivy plant and a few Silver Birch leaves that are coated in fruiting bodies. I think the two species evident in the third shot are Lamproderma scintillans and Didymium squamulosum which are Barry Webb says are often found in the same habitat at the same time (to be checked).

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!

Welney Swans and Ducks

As we had a couple of hours before meeting the rest of the group, we drove back along the road towards  Little Downham stopping for any close views of feeding swans such as this adult feeding on sugar beet and the juvenile getting any crops remaining in the black fenland soil. After meeting the rest of the group for coffee, we spent time in the main hides (the only part of the reserve that isn't flooded) or walked along the bank photographing any interesting flight patterns and portraits of Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall etc,.