Stormy at Stonehaven

Mossy Stone

Twisted Lizard

A little painting of a viviparous lizard - Zootoca vivipara. I've been looking at a lot of paintings by Keith Brockie recently - he's a genius.

Caledonian Pines

 Tree-fetish Tuesday #47

A handful of venerable pines in Knoydart - John Muir Trust are nurturing a new generation of scots pines in the area.

 Darranacorachs is a long abandoned farmstead deep in the spruce plantations. When I first encountered it (and painted this picture) there were still several buildings and some accompanying scots pines, but both the pines and the buildings have since been smothered in windthrown spruce trees.

Killer Fungus

Monday Mushroom #57

Cordyceps Spp - Caterpillar Fungus

This kind of fungus infects and kills (and lives entirely on) insects. Such fungi are particularly prevalent in the warm, dank interior of the rain forest but similar fungi occur even in Britain.

Knoydart Again

Scenic Sundays #50

For my 50th Scenic Sunday, thought I'd revisit my photoset from Knoydart in May 2011. I still have a lot of amazing images from that weekend away with the John Muir Trust...

Loch Hourn

Dark Green and Twisted

Fencepost of the Week #64

Galapagos Green Turtle

Wildlife Wednesday #56

Chelonia midas - Green Turtle

Hazel Coppice

Tree-fetish Tuesday #46

Love my dad, too! Here we are in a mossy hazel thicket on the Isle of Mull.

Fungus / Moss / Lichen Fight!

Monday Mushroom #56

 Here is the wrinkled crust fungus erupting from a dead tree, smothering the lichens and mosses that already cover its surface.

Phlebia radiata - Wrinkled Crust Fungus

Phlebia radiata - Wrinkled Crust Fungus

Phlebia radiata - Wrinkled Crust Fungus

Mum on Mallorca

Scenic Sundays #49

Love my mum! Here she is walking the GR221 near Soller, Malorca.

Hairy Post

Fencepost of the Week #63

The highland cattle have been enjoying this rather heavily eroded post.

Flamingos

Wildlife Wednesday #55

Phoenicoparrus jamesi - James's Flamingo

Flamingos on a salt lake in Bolivia.

Twisted Beeches

Tree-fetish Tuesday #45

Dyer's Mazegill

Monday Mushroom #55

Phaeolus schweinitzii - Dyer's Mazegill

This impressive, bright yellow mushroom, with mazey gills, can be used to dye fabric producing various shades of green, orange and yellow depending on the mordant.

Phaeolus schweinitzii - Dyer's Mazegill

Phaeolus schweinitzii - Dyer's Mazegill

Phaeolus schweinitzii - Dyer's Mazegill

The fruiting bodies dry out fairly quickly, but often last all year as a blackened, crumbling mess.

Fionnphort

Scenic Sundays #48

 This is Fionnphort, right at the westernmost end of the Ross of Mull.

Autumnal Loch Side

Tree-fetish Tuesday #44

Bog Beacon Redux

Monday Mushroom #54

Mitrula paludosa - Bog Beacon

I was so excited about finding a patch of bog beacons, that I blogged about them before I'd gotten any decent photos, so here are some better pics to go with this old post.

Mitrula paludosa - Bog Beacon

Bog beacons didn't make it into Skyrim - the follow up to Oblivion, but it does have several very fine fungi of its own including Fly Amanita and Collared Earth Star.

Mitrula paludosa - Bog Beacon

Isolation

Fencepost of the Week #62

Cast adrift on the moors, this post no longer has any neighbours, it borders on nothing, is connected to nothing. Alone.

Froghopper

Wildlife Wednesday #54

Cercopis intermedia - Froghopper

Young froghoppers are the insects that produce 'cuckoo spit' - the little globs of foam you find in the grass. They live inside the foam for protection, but the adults - like this one - do without.

Autumn Colour

Tree-fetish Tuesday #43

Just a little autumn colour...

Chanterelle's Less Showy Sibling

Monday Mushroom #53

The regular chanterelles are over, but the winter chanterelle is still growing strong. They grow in much greater profusion than regular chanterelles, but are so like dead leaves in shape and colour (from a distance) that they are rarely noticed - even when growing in dense carpets.

Cantharellus tubaeformis - Winter Chanterelle

Cantharellus tubaeformis - Winter Chanterelle

Cantharellus tubaeformis - Winter Chanterelle

Cantharellus tubaeformis - Winter Chanterelle

Cantharellus tubaeformis - Winter Chanterelle

Icy Trails

There were some pleasing ice crystal formations growing on my windows this morning:

Mooring Post

Fencepost of the Week #61

Mooring post for 'The Barge' a great little restaurant floating on the seafront in Tarbert harbour...

Oh, Unfortunate Sea Slater

Wildlife Wednesday #53

Ligia oceanica - Sea Slater

This unfortunate beastie had been tossed over the sea-wall on to the road, and wasn't best pleased by my efforts to shepherd it back to brinier parts, either.

Pines of Formby Sands

Tree-fetish Tuesday #42

Formby Sands to Ainsdale nature reserve was one of my favourite haunts when I lived in Liverpool. Great fungi and wildlife, and beautiful, varied landscapes. The pines in this plantation have been busy carpeting the shapely sand-dunes with needles and cones...

Orange Peel

Monday Mushroom #52

A bright, little mushroom that grows on bare, stony ground - often at the side of dirt tracks and footpaths.

Aleuria aurantia - Orange peel fungus

Aleuria aurantia - Orange peel fungus