PINK FUNGI

Eric spotted these pink fungi on a log by our tool shed.

 

I asked Simon, our expert, and he revealed that they are not fungi but slime moulds.

At one stage of their 4-phase life they just become slime, hence the name.  But here they have formed into sporangia, which produce spores to start the next generation.

Simon says:  

"They are Slime Moulds and if you squish one it will be either orange / pink inside or grey, I think one has the common name Wolfs Milk though I wouldn’t recommend it with your Coco Pops! J  Google should help with more info now you have a name"

and directs us to a page on the  First Nature  website which has some interesting info about these curious organisms

They are single celled creatures that group together and move in their quest for food which is bacteria, yeasts and other decay organisms.   Read more about them on the    woodlands.co.uk     website

https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/the-mysterious-world-of-the-slime-mould/

 

VIEW

From the viewpoint at Filnore Woods

Oldbury power station by the river.  

On the skyline above Thornbury's tudor church tower you can see the clump of pine trees on May Hill, planted in 1887 for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.

In the sky you can see . . . . . . .clouds.

 

CRABS

I think this is the last of the 'autumn fruits' postings.  In the section of Filnore Woods which we call 'The Old Plantation' there are a number of non-native trees planted 30 years ago by Northavon District Council.  Some of these trees are apples - more or less crabby.  

Once on the ground they are merrily munched by creatures from squirrels to wasps and from slugs to fallow deer.

If you have an apple tree at home, leave some of the windfalls for blackbirds and thrushes, to see them through the colder months.  You may even get some of our winter visiting thrushes, fieldfares and redwings.

 APPLES

A LONG POST

We have 20 numbered posts to help guide you round Filnore Woods.   Unfortunately some of them have been targeted by encroaching vegetation, decay, wind or fire.

Posts 1 to 4 are OK and post 5, leading down to the footbridge, has just been rescued from oblivion by our volunteers.

Post 6 has been used by someone lazy as fuel for a bonfire .. .. ..

.. .. ..  and we assume post 8 went the same way.

Post 7 disappeared a while ago so we have painted the number on a nearby, smooth-barked beech tree.

Post 9 disappears and re-appears on a regular basis after being replaced in its hole several times.  It's back again now but for a back-up we shall paint the number on the oak tree (below left), but the bark is not so smooth.

Post 10 on an even younger oak.  The paper label is wearing out so we must get painting.

         

Post 11 rotted off so the end will be sawn off and a shorter post reinstated.

Post 12 is fine, and the next sign pointing the way to posts 13 -20.

 Let me know if you see any other posts in need of attention.

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BEECH

Autumn beech colour

 It looks better than my photo shows.   

Check it out and other autumn colours by visiting Filnore Woods.

VElVET SHANK FUNGUS

Another fungus showing up at Filnore Woods:  down by the footbridge there is a small dead elm tree.  At the base of the trunk there is a cluster of orangey flame-coloured toadstools growing out of the wood.  This is one of the few toadstools that can withstand frost.

These are the brightly coloured fruiting bodies of the Velvet Shank Fungus, a specialist at consuming dead elms.

I broke a couple off to show the pale gills underneath and the stem which is covered in black fur, like velvet.  This is what gives it the 'velvet shank' name.

The scientific name is Flammulina velutipes, which is Latin for 'little flame with velvet feet'.

 

GUELDER ROSE

Guelder Rose is one of our native viburnums, Viburnum opulus.  Inconspicuous for most of the year, this shrub with its maple-like leaves produces brilliant red berries and striking autumn foliage colour.

 

GARDEN CROSS SPIDER

Hanging head down in her web, this garden cross spider (Araneus diadematus) will have laid her eggs and is now tucking in to a few more juicy flies before the frosts come and kill her.

This species can be identified by the cross on the back.  They make the most noticeable orb webs - at least the females do; the males trot round trying to mate with the females without getting eaten.  It's a hard life.

Araneus webs show up especially well on bushes after a heavy dew, like sparkling cartwheels.  But there is another orb web spider, the window spider (Zygiella x-notata) which leaves a sector of the web missing.  

This is because she hides in an inconspicuous nook with a signal thread passing down through the 'missing' section of the web to the centre.  When an insect lands in the web, she feels the vibration, runs down the signal line, paralyzes the prey, wraps it in silk and scampers back to her hidey hole to feed.

Many Zygiellas last right through the winter.  They are often to be found on window frames, gates and even car mirrors.

 

MOUSE

Alan Watts managed to get these close-up images of a wood mouse (also known as a field mouse).  It's different from a vole, with its long fur-free tail, pointier nose, big ears and protruding eyes, which equip it for night sight. 

It was on its way from a holly bush to a bird feeder

I'm afraid I was a bit too late to photograph this one.  Someone 'snapped' it before I did.

Wood mice never die of old age.  As they weaken they become prey to stoats, weasels, foxes, domestic cats, adders, barn owls, tawny owls and even hedgehogs. Like voles they are an important part of the food chain.  Sad but true.

They live in underground burrows, often under tree roots, and in autumn they store up seeds, berries, nuts, dandelion buds and all sorts to prepare for leaner times in winter.  If you ever read Jill Barklem's 'Brambly Hedge' books for children you will know all about store stumps!

 

TOAD IN THE HOLE

Rescued in a flower pot from a close encounter with a spade in the vegetable plot.

Toads like to shelter in leaf litter, log piles and damp ditches.  As well as gardens they are often found in woodland where they hunt for worms, slugs and insects.

During winter they often hide away in mud or compost, which is where they are at risk from energetic gardeners and their spades.

 

BITTERSWEET

Bittersweet or woody nightshade berries are at their most attractive to children when they a red and ripe. 

But actually they are more poisonous when green.

Despite their 'nightshade' name they are not usually a serious problem.  Just a bit of tummy upset.  The last recorded death was in 1948 when a little girl swallowed a lot.

 

SPINDLE BERRY

The pink fruits of the spindle tree are not always easy to see

Each berry is divided in four and opens to reveal the orange nutlet inside.

The whole tree begins to colour up in September 

with the leaves turning bright orangey-red

 

ALLAN BURBERRY

 Readers of the blog will be interested to hear that one of the founders of Filnore Woods, Allan Burberry, who died earlier this year, is now commemorated by a bench seat installed in a sloping field overlooking Thornbury and the surrounding countryside, which he loved and did so much to maintain for wildlife.

A plaque attached to the seat draws attention to his contribution.

The seat was funded by contributions from several people who knew him, from his family and from the town council, who undertook the installation of the seat and the re-instatement of soil eroded by human and bovine feet over many years.

Unfortunately the cattle have been visiting the place again so the soil which was so carefully graded by Paul, the Town Council's chief groundsperson, has been a bit churned up.  Hopefully it will settle and be colonised by meadow plants so that in summer, covid permitting, we shall be able to hold a dedication and celebration in honour of Allan.

The location of the seat is beside the Jubilee Way footpath, on a slope, two fields away behind the Mundy Playing Field.

As well as an excellent naturalist, Allan was a leading expert in the world of radio antennas and his book 'VHF and UHF Antennas' is still a sought after work.  As a lasting gift to Filnore Woods, Allan's family are donating the royalties from sales of the book to the Friends of Filnore Woods.  Just as we owe Allan for all he did in his lifetime, we are now very grateful that he will continue to support us in the work that he started.

FUNGUS FOUR

Coriolus versicolor or Trametes versicolor, the Turkey Tail fungus, grows in tiers on pretty well any dead wood.

It varies a lot in colour but is always concentrically zoned.  The closer-up photo below was taken a year ago.

 

FUNGUS THREE

Here is the next in this parade of autumn fungi photos by me and identification by Simon Harding.

The Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota procera, grows in groups in grassy areas.

The cap is covered in widely spaced brown scales.

It starts off as a button, then an umbrella and eventually flattens out, revealing the pale gills underneath, and the ring on the stem where the cap was attached.

 

FUNGUS TWO

A dainty little toadstool, Coprinopsis lagopus, or the haresfoot ink cap

Growing on and feeding on some cow poo, and so recycling it.

 My photos identified as usual by Simon Harding, our mycologist.

FUNGUS ONE

Autumn is the peak time for spotting different fungi.  The bits we see are the 'fruiting bodies' of the  unseen fungus organism, made up of white threads called hyphae in bundles called mycelium.

This one grows in and on dead willow wood and is called Daedaleopsis confragosa . . . 

. . . . .  OR in English, the false maze gill  because the underneath is a bit like the maze gill fungus with a maze of slotted pores underneath; OR the blushing bracket because the underside bruises red if you rub it.