A tasty fungus?

The temperature fell low enough last night to freeze the ponds over, and although the waterfall was running slowly quite large icicles formed. I was pleased to see at least one fish deep in the water, so the Heron didn't quite get them all!

Despite the heavy frost for the last two nights, the fungus that I'd been meaning to photograph was still in quite good nick. I had expected it to have turned to a slimy mess. I think it is Auricularia auricula also known as Jews Ear. It has been growing prolifically on the elder tree stumps we've arranged in the front garden. It is also called Judas's Ear Fungus as it is said that Judas hanged himself on an Elder Tree. This is an edible fungus and is popular in Chinese cooking. There are lots of recipes here.

One of the birds I've seen surprisingly few of this year is the Kestrel. Perhaps I've just been unlucky but none have appeared on either of the TTV's I've done. I was pleased to see this one by the road near West Langdon. I would have been even more pleased if I'd seen the Red Kite that Joan Miller watched from Forstal Farm yesterday. There have been a couple of reports, I think one be hanging round the area at the moment. I be pleased to get any sightings.

A castle with a view

Autumn is always a good time for fungi, but I really haven't ever got to grips with the identity of many of them.

These were growing in the grass at a small playground where Jack and Josh play. I think that they are Ink-caps of some sort, perhaps Shaggy Ink-caps. (Thanks to Dean for ID of Common Ink Cap).

There were several of these growing singly, and I'm not sure if they are the same species as those in the large "fairy ring" below, that were starting to go over.

A large number of these fungi, in clumps, formed a ring about four feet across. (Again thanks Dean for the ID of Common Ink Cap).


A year ago I photographed this (I presume it is the same bird) Carrion Crow and today, exactly a year later it is still using the same field and gardens to feed in. It was with "regular" black Crows today, but seemed to be totally accepted by them.

We found another fungi, on the trunk of a large Acer or Sycamore tree. I would call this a bracket fungus, but it is a very sculptured shape and may be it is a different species to the Bracket fungi I normally see, rather than just a fresh growth.

From this angle the beautiful structure is easier to see.

This afternoon we visited Clitheroe Castle and the museum. The castle stands on a hill in the middle of the town. It was built around 1186 by Roger de Lacy to protect his vast estates. It now belongs to the town and the museum was re-opened this spring after a £3.5 million refurbishment. We spent about two hours in there with Josh and have to say it was both interesting at an adult level and very good for children with many interactive features. I really hope this new age of austerity doesn't mean that we will see too many of the nations museums close whilst our government wastes huge amounts on useless adventures abroad.

From the newly restored keep there is a great view of Pendle Hill, that dominates the skyline at 557 metres at its peak. Famed for the witches of Pendle and, amongst birders, for the Dotterel that often visit the peak in spring. Mike Watson, a regular blogger and birder, frequently writes of his walks up Pendle hill.

Looking towards the Forest of Bowland , Longridge Fell dominates the sky line. Not as high as Pendle Hill, the summit is 3250 metres, it is the home of Birdquest, The premier birding holiday company, at Kemple End.

Acting on Information Received

Thanks to an early note from Steve Coates (Kingsdowner) I knew that the male Black Redstart was showing on the rocks at Kingsdown this morning.

As I arrived I saw it briefly on the rocks and then it disappeared for a while. when it did show up it was on the "ugly" fence that surrounds the rifle range ( big holes in it at each end again). It was quite a long way off and the light was not in a good direction, so this was the best I could do.

After a bit of a chase with what I presume was the same Robin as a couple of days ago I next located it along the road, sitting on a television aerial. It sat up there for a while before going absent again.

I think I've found the reason it was staying away from the rocks and was flitting round the beach, the breakwaters and the the wooden barrier by the road.

It did stay around long enough for a few pictures but didn't go back on the rocks while I was there, which was a pity because I like the background of the sea behind the bird.

At least it was in a good position to see the red tail, and its even got a glint in the eye.

No good reason for another picture of a Rock Pipit except that I liked the odd stance of this bird. It seems to be sticking its chest out in a sort of swagger, "this is my bit keep off".

As I came back via Pond Lane I noticed loads of fungi in the field. I think that these are Stubble Rosegill (Volvariella gloiocephala). I often grows in stubble fields or recently sown fields after the stubble's been ploughed. In my little guide it says that it is poisonous (it got a skull and crossbones by the picture) it might be because it can resemble a deadly Amanita. According to the Wild About Britain WEB site it's quite harmless though, and even considered as edible. It is esteemed amongst Eastern European communities. I don't think it's worth the risk though.

over by the hedge I could here all the birds making a lot of noise. It sounded like they were mobbing a predator, probably an Owl, I've seen Little Owls near by. Sadly while I was looking I found this dead Fox. This is an animal that causes very different opinions. To many it's a pest but to others, and I'm one, it is a very beautiful animal, although of course I don't keep chickens. I don't know how it me its end, but I guess it would have been by the hand of man. I didn't find the Owl, but every thing quietened down. I rather think that it had slipped away to the Churchyard unseen by me.

Tawny "barn" Owl

We are still away in Clitheroe on the edge of Bowland Forest, where I'm quite certain there are no Green Herons, see here and here for one just 20 minutes from home.

When Jack told me that was a white Crow that regularly fed in the field at the end of their road we decided to walk down to see it it was there. Within a minute or so Jack spotted it flying over and although it didn't land to feed amongst the sheep, it did pose on this roof with a more normal friend.

Mike Watson, a regular in the Bowland forest area, now he works for Birdquest told me about a Barn, not far from here (Clitheroe) where a couple of Tawny Owls roost. It seems that Pete had previously taken Jack to see them, so he recognised the barn as we looked along the road, over the moors not far from Slaidburn.

In fact we could only see one, but it didn't seen disturbed when we peered through the doorway at it sitting high on a beam. A strange angle in a strange place for a Tawny Owl photograph. In spite of the area being in Bowland Forest there are only a few small copses in the area.

Walking along a path near the River Hodder in Slaidburn Pam found these two beautiful Fungi. As usual with fungi I need to declare my lack of knowledge, but using the guide we have, we think that they are Clitocybe geotropa. The book says that they are edible and taste good, but I don't think I'd risk trusting my identification skills.

Food for thought.

Autumn is the traditional time for collecting wild food, and if you have confidence in your identification there are plenty of edible fungi about. I must admit that field mushrooms are probably the only species that I'm capable of being certain about.

I think that these two beauties are parasol mushrooms (according to Jack that is.) However when I looked them up I came across this statement

"Although parasol mushrooms are edible, many fungi of the Lepiota family to which it belongs may be very similar in appearance and can cause stomach upsets. Some are very poisonous." That's enough to limit my fungi to ones sold in the shops! In Italy you can get your mushrooms checked at the local market to try and help prevent accidental poisoning, but there are still quite a few deaths each year from eating the wrong toadstool.

Sweet Chestnuts are also in season. I used to enjoy buying a bag of chestnuts from someone selling them on a cold winters night. Here's a recipe for 1kg of Sweet Chestnuts from the BBC site:

Method
1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

2. Using a small, sharp knife, cut a cross into the skin of each nut. Put in a roasting tin and bake until the skins open and the insides are tender, about 30 minutes.

3. Serve in paper bags, if you like. To eat, peel away the tough outer skin and the pithy white inner skin to get to the sweet kernel.

This is just about simple enough for me to manage, but I'd need to get some paper bags to do it properly.

I had a total of just six moths from last nights trapping, four Feathered Ranunculus and single Large and Lesser Yellow Underwings, a poor return in October.

Going with the flow.

I had time to kill while my car was being MOT'd today, so I walked down to Kearnsey Abbey.

Most photographers are draw to water, it is a subject with an infinite number of possibilities and the River Dour, that flows through the grounds has many interesting features. This afternoon was quite dark and unlike this morning there was no sun, but I quite like to lack of heavy shadows for taking these autumnal pictures.

I remember reading an article by Heather Angel about photographing moving water and I tried to get one of the effects that she showed. I took two pictures of the water as it goes over the weir, into the fallen leaves. The first was with an exposure of seconds and the second, the fastest I could manage in the light, at 1/50th of a second. I did get some of the misty or foggy effects on some of the water, but the main volume going over the weir is surprisingly clear.

Just down from the weir a Grey Wagtail was feeing in the eddies, but the light was too poor to get anything worthwhile.

The trees are at their most colourful at the moment an this large avenue is still looking very leafy despite the windy weather we've been having this Autumn.

I did hope to find lots of fungi under the trees. I'm sure if I'd looked in the right areas I would have found more, but this was the only clump I found. As usual I'm not sure what it is, but it may well be that same as I found in Captain's Wood, Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fsciculare), but a bit more developed. again any advice would be welcome.

Across the road at Bushy Rough I walked along the formal ponds to a small folly. As well as water, doorways and arches draw photographers, so the combination with water and Swans is irresistable, no matter how clichéd the result.

Autumn Leaves

Things were very quiet on the birding front around St Margaret's, with most migrants appearing to have moved on, although a small flock of Tree Sparrows flying over the Freedown was good to see. Later in the day a Yellow-browed Warbler was found in the Pine Gardens.

In the afternoon I visited Admiral Wood for the first time for a while. Although many of the leaves have already fallen there are still enough on the trees to make it very dark inside although it was bright sunshine outside.

When I did come to the large opening in the centre I was aware of a strange high pitched noise above me and overhead a glider whistled passed. The Channel Gliding Club, in Waldershare Park, is right nest to the wood.

There were very few birds around, although when I got to the edge of the wood to look at the glider runway I did see this Jay go by. It was probably one of the local birds, but at the moment there does seem to be an influx into Kent, with sightings from places where Jays are seldom seen. It may be that in some areas the acorn crop is poor making the Jays move to find their winter food.

The sunshine penetrates better where there are stands of large trees, as opposed to the areas of coppice. Unfortunately the coppice industry is no longer very profitable and many of coppice woods are are left to grow, a much less interesting habitat than a well managed coppiced wood.

I'm not particularly good at fungi identification but I think these are Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fsciculare). If I'm wrong I be happy to be corrected.

The walk through the wood is almost exactly half a mile (with out diversions) and most of the time it's like being in a tunnel. With the ISO rating set at 800 this photo was 1/10th second at f7.1, compared to the Jay, in the sunshine that was 1/4000 at f7.1 at the same ISO setting.

Fungi Foray

I know it's said that farmers always moan about the weather, too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot etc., but this year, as they try and get the harvest in, they really do have a legitimate moan. It looks as if August will be the wettest for 100 years and unless we get two or three good drying days up to four million tonnes of wheat will be fit for animal feed only, and that means the price of bread will go up even more.

While I was looking at some of the fields towards East Langdon I stopped to look at this young Rook. After all these years of birding I have only just noticed how brown the head and neck of the young birds is. I might be that I caught this bird in perfect light to see it, but it really stood out.

This field has been cropped and unusually for nowadays the straw is in squared bales and not cylindrical ones wrapped in plastic. Many of the other fields are still uncut or partially cut, lets hope the forecast is right and we will have a few days of settled weather.

Back in St Margaret's I had a wander round the paddock next to the monument. What I really wanted to find was a Wasp Spider, but I didn't have any luck. I don't know if it's the wet and windy conditions but I'm yet to find one this year. What I did find was this rather fine fungus. It goes under the name Panaeolus semiovatus or more commonly Dung Roundhead, which, as you can see in the picture, is an appropriate name.

Even the butterflies were hiding form the wind. The only ones I saw were those that I kicked up as I walked through the grass, and even these quickly dive into cover, like the Gate Keeper above

and this Common Blue.

There were a few grasshoppers around but again they were not as active as on a hot sunny day. I think that this is a Field Grasshopper, but it's not a group I'm very knowledgeable about.

Fungi, Mushroom or Toadstool?

It is always special to see and hear Swallows when they arrive back and settle down to breed. Although not a renowned songster I love to hear the squeaky, twittering song, a real sound of summer. Although newly arrived from its long journey from southern Africa this bird already has worn tail streamers. Female have shorter streamers than males, but this one does look very glossy blue and I would have thought it was a male. Males with the longest streamers have the greatest success in the mating game, a case of size really does matter.

I'm no expert on fungi, so when Pauline Gould invited me to see some interesting looking fungi in the garden of South Sands House I was not too sure that I'd be able to held identify them. I didn't really have to worry because with the aid of a couple of guides Pauline found the matching picture before I did. This intriguing looking mushroom is a Common Morel, Morchella esculenta, and my book says that it is good to add to soups and sauces. Although I'm confident.well almost, that we got it right, I don't think I'd add it to anything I eat, just in case.

This is a fresh one just coming up, it looks different to the mature specimens but I think is will turn out to be the same.

An evening puddle watch added a new species to those I watched here yesterday this very dapper and neat Chaffinch was just a energetic in getting his bath time done as the others.

After several minutes of splashing about he was distinctly dishevelled. This almost ritual bathing is extremely important for the birds to maintain their feathers. After washing they preen, putting their feathers back in order, and while they do this they obtain an oil, form their preen gland, and apply it with their beaks, making their plumage water proof.

Other Birds Although I had three separate spells of sea-watching, none of them was very long and in the end my lack of patience was my undoing. Having waited for three-quarters of an hour after nine Pomarine Skuas had been reported passing Samphire Hoe, with no success, I gave up, only to receive a text from Jack when I got home to say 19 Poms had passed by. Those with dedication get the rewards!

Puzzle Today I've had about 100 extra hits on my blog, all from the United States or Canada, and all looking at a post I did last year about Skylarks and poems (Hail to thee etc...). I wonder if people were googling to solve a crossword puzzle and that's how they arrived here? If you know, please tell me, I'm intrigued.

Missed Opportunities

I started today with the objective of getting some pictures of the Firecrest along Granville Road. First I had a nasty surprise when I looked at my moth trap. The bulb, a costly bit of kit, had the top off like an opened hard boiled egg. I guess the bulb runs hot and it cracked in the sub-zero temperature. Surprisingly there was one Hebrew Character in the trap.

Once I got to the steps I soon heard and then saw the Firecrest, but I totally failed to get it focused in the camera.

Just like my last attempt, once the Firecrest had gone two Goldcrests came to have a look at what was going on. It seemed that the one above watched while the lower one practised some sort of avian high jump.

It made a good job of this jump, the next frame does show it perched on the twig above.

Yesterday I put up a picture of a fungus that I thought was Jew's Ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) but I have been warned that this might not be right. I've put another picture, of the same growth, above and would appreciate any help with the identification.

I also tried to get a picture of a "British" Rock Pipit (Anthus p petrosus) in its current plumage, but the pair that are normally near the Bay resolutely refused to appear today, so here's one I took earlier.