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Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 17 7:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Interesting fungus and slime mould. Those are probably among the 'not sure what they are' group for me. Apart from scarlet elf caps, I haven't seen too many fungi recently, apart from the long lived ones like brackets and King Alfred's Cakes.

The birds are really singing strongly now. We had a marsh tit nesting where we cut our first coup, and it spent nearly all its time scolding us.

Found an early purple orchid in flower yesterday and a couple of twayblade with buds in the bottom.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 17 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

dpack wrote:
the slime mould up a tree is interesting, iv'e never seen one at that stage of life.

fascinating life forms ,have you come across the ones that glow pale purple in the dark? they live on wet dead twigs on the woodland carpet. in daylight they look like wallpaper paste with a hint of milk and are easily overlooked , in full darkness they are a bit freaky until identified as "not an alien beast with glowing eyes"

the shrooms are definitely on the NOT food list


I haven't seen the purple glowing slime mould, but then my time spent wandering through woodland in the dark is limited these days.

Henry

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Apr 04, 17 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
Interesting fungus and slime mould. Those are probably among the 'not sure what they are' group for me. Apart from scarlet elf caps, I haven't seen too many fungi recently, apart from the long lived ones like brackets and King Alfred's Cakes.

The birds are really singing strongly now. We had a marsh tit nesting where we cut our first coup, and it spent nearly all its time scolding us.

Found an early purple orchid in flower yesterday and a couple of twayblade with buds in the bottom.


My experience of, and ability to identify, slime moulds is very limited. I have seen the one in the picture before, but at ground level.

I did once go on a day long course on slime moulds. The highlight of the day was when the course leader, during the field excursion, nudged me, pointed at a yellowish blob on a tree trunk about five yards away and said "That's (long scientific name) new to Britain."

We did look for Early Purple Orchids, but the usual area was much overgrown, and they couldn't be found. Quite a few Common Spotted Orchid rosettes, though.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 17 6:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It isn't very easy to tell the difference between the leaves of early purple and common spotted orchid I find. The common spotted in our wood often don't have spots, and either can come up with the flower between purple, through pink to white. I haven't been hunting early purples yet, but I would expect a few more to be coming up over the next week or two.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Today we visited a Forestry Commission woodland. We had hoped to see Adders, but only got as far as Adder sloughs:




This one was in a tangle of bramble etc.. A few feet away was another, which we managed to retrieve (and one of us spent the rest of the walk showing it to (mainly small) children that we passed, with reactions from "Eeeeugggghhh" to "Cool!".)

We also saw several Slow Worms (Anguis fragilis):





This was the last and largest that we saw; the first was a lovely stripey juvenile, and there were a couple of in-betweeners.

We also saw a Palmate Newt, netted from a most unprepossessing pool of water in a muddy ditch.

We saw lots of Red Kites (or it might have been a few Kites on several occasions, but one of us did count six in the air at the same time) and I watched a pair of Buzzards circling high and interacting, though whether this was amicably or aggressively, I couldn't tell.

All in all a good day, especially for one of our mycologists, who had never seen a Slow Worm before.

Henry

PS We also saw Little Brown Mouse, Fox, Owl and Snake, though not, I'm sad to say, Gruffalo, as I've never yet seen one of THOSE.!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

wow what a good reptile habitat, tis nice to see em thriving , i don't remember adders and slow worms in the same place before and assumed that the slow got eaten.

careful training and or control with any dogs and kids round there, though
it takes a bit of daft to get fully bitten kids and dogs do both (so do some adults) and anyone having a careless encounter might get a nip . having known folk who have lost dogs and a couple of near surprises myself i'm quite cautious about adder territory.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I was a trifle surprised that the FC had no signs up about Adders, given the number of dogs and small children that there were about today. but I suppose they have done some sort of cost benefit analysis. Presumably a "Please do not let your children play with the Adders" would put too many visitors off.

We found two sloughs close together, as I said, and we thought perhaps that yesterday's hot weather had encouraged them to shed, and I imagine the population is quite good.

Not sure about the interactions between Adders and Slow Worms; must remember to ask my Adder expert friend.

Henry

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

buzzy wrote:
I was a trifle surprised that the FC had no signs up about Adders, given the number of dogs and small children that there were about today. but I suppose they have done some sort of cost benefit analysis. Presumably a "Please do not let your children play with the Adders" would put too many visitors off.


I don't ever recall seeing any warning signs about adders but have often seen adders on FC/Wildlife Trust land.

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Someone sent a serious letter to our Commons Conservators suggesting that in view of the danger to dogs and children from adders they should sort out rounding them all up and relocating them. (The adders, not the dogs and children.)

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
Someone sent a serious letter to our Commons Conservators suggesting that in view of the danger to dogs and children from adders they should sort out rounding them all up and relocating them. (The adders, not the dogs and children.)


That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Henry

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Treacodactyl wrote:
buzzy wrote:
I was a trifle surprised that the FC had no signs up about Adders, given the number of dogs and small children that there were about today. but I suppose they have done some sort of cost benefit analysis. Presumably a "Please do not let your children play with the Adders" would put too many visitors off.


I don't ever recall seeing any warning signs about adders but have often seen adders on FC/Wildlife Trust land.


I suspect such notices would attract "adder vigilantes" armed with stout sticks, beating the bushes and trying to exterminate the wicked creatures.

Henry

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

buzzy wrote:
Treacodactyl wrote:
buzzy wrote:
I was a trifle surprised that the FC had no signs up about Adders, given the number of dogs and small children that there were about today. but I suppose they have done some sort of cost benefit analysis. Presumably a "Please do not let your children play with the Adders" would put too many visitors off.


I don't ever recall seeing any warning signs about adders but have often seen adders on FC/Wildlife Trust land.


I suspect such notices would attract "adder vigilantes" armed with stout sticks, beating the bushes and trying to exterminate the wicked creatures.

Henry


Sadly, I've known people do that to slow worms. I think adders are much more common than many people think, hence the lack of signs otherwise everywhere would need one.

I've never seen adders with other reptiles though; slow worms, grass snakes and common lizards all together

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 17 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Treacodactyl wrote:
buzzy wrote:
Treacodactyl wrote:
buzzy wrote:
I was a trifle surprised that the FC had no signs up about Adders, given the number of dogs and small children that there were about today. but I suppose they have done some sort of cost benefit analysis. Presumably a "Please do not let your children play with the Adders" would put too many visitors off.


I don't ever recall seeing any warning signs about adders but have often seen adders on FC/Wildlife Trust land.


I suspect such notices would attract "adder vigilantes" armed with stout sticks, beating the bushes and trying to exterminate the wicked creatures.

Henry


Sadly, I've known people do that to slow worms. I think adders are much more common than many people think, hence the lack of signs otherwise everywhere would need one.

I've never seen adders with other reptiles though; slow worms, grass snakes and common lizards all together


A lady once rang me about a snake she had found in her garden and wanted me to identify - she thought it might be poisonous so she had got her gardener to kill it. I duly received the body and it was quickly apparent that the gardener had blown it in two with a charge from a shotgun! It was, naturally, a perfectly harmless Grass Snake.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 17 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I understand the gamekeeper who looked after the woods we now own used to take an adder skin into the local school and solemnly warn the children about playing in our woods. We have had it 15 years and never seen an adder, although we have seen them in the FC woods about a mile away. We have slow worms and common lizards though. Nice pictures Buzzy, thanks.

Grass snakes bite more often than adders I believe, and if you are bitten, you need to take it seriously as the bite often becomes infected and a tetanus jab may also be required.

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