Winter's Grip

Fencepost of the Week #203

 

Orange Peel Fungus

 

 

 

 Lots of nice orange peel fungus - Aleuria aurantia - around this year.

 

 

Knotty, Ferny Post

 Fencepost of the Week #202

Bonnetcaps and Shade

A decorous cluster of bonnet caps - Mycena galericulata - in a sequestered glade.

Autumnal Forest Edge Post

 Fencepost of the Week #201

Saffron Powder Cap

 

Saffron powder cap - Cystoderma amianthinum

Oil Beetles

 Found an oil beetle - Meloe violaceus - in the UK for the first time on Saturday. 

 

 

Revisited the site on sunday to find one laying eggs in an impressive hole it had excavated for the purpose.

 

 

Tangly Lichens Post

 Fencepost of the Week #200

 

A matted tangle of lichens turn this post into a jungle of minute proportions.

Split Gill Fungus

 

Schizophyllum commune - split gill fungus on a silage sack

 

Split gill fungus is a very distinctive mushroom. It has a Y-shaped gill cross-section and a frilly, scalloped cap with a fuzzy texture. It grows all over the world in tropical and temperate climates. It is often  found growing flat to the surface of rotting logs, but here it is emerging in dense clusters from the side of  a black plastic silage bag.

Matchstick Lichen Post

 Fencepost of the Week #199

Some wonderfully bright matchstick lichen shining through the November gloaming.

Didymium

 I've seen quite a few slime moulds about recently. I think this one is Didymium melanospermum which likes growing on mosses.

Aniseed Cockleshell Fungus

 

Aniseed cockleshell fungus - Lentinellus cochleatus. Lentinellus species sport an unusual, jagged gill profile. This one grows a bit like a small oyster mushroom and smells of aniseed. Too bitter to be considered a good edible, though.

False Truffle Earthtongue

Tolypocladium capitatum - sprouting from a subterranean false truffle.

 
Elaphomyces granulatus is a truffle-like fungus that inhabits conifer plantations. It is rarely seen as it grows a few centimeters beneath the surface. It is parasitised by an earth tongue Tolypocladium capitatum that sprouts from the truffle and heads upwards, breaching the surface so it can deposit its spores on the wind.

 

 

A false truffle Elaphomyces granulatus revealed by digging down the stalks of the parasites.

Dusk on the Moss Mounds

 Fencepost of the Week #198

 

Grizzled Peak

 Fencepost of the Week #197

Lovely Lichen Ensemble

 Fencepost of the Week #196

Bathing Queue

 Fencepost of the Week #195

A bird (linnet maybe?) enjoyng my #FencepostOfTheWeek while awaiting its turn in the bathing pool.

Shady Woodland Post

 Fencepost of the Week # 194

Alpine Newts in Argyll

15th April - more fully developed crest and breeding season markings.

 

Some photos of alpine newts - Ichthyosaura alpestris - in Argyll. A non-native species which was released into a garden pond a few decades ago, and is now spreading into the neighbouring hills. 27th March 2022

Tufts, Cups and Matchheads

Fencepost of the Week #193

 

Aftersun Usnea

 Fencepost of the Week #192

Recessed Moss-Ball

Fencepost of the Week #191