Woodland fungi and clearing the paths

The mushrooms are back!

Looks like it's going to be a good autumn for fungi, with them starting out like this in September:

At last, one I recognise! A Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria):

I'd heard slugs ate fungi, but this is the first time I've caught them in the act, munching on a Brown roll-rim here:

My parents have been visiting, so we did some clearing of overgrown paths in Sweep Wood:

This bit's turned into a tree-tunnel, and after just five summers of growth!

Just a few years ago it looked like this!

We also cut back the regrowth on the stump of a big roadside Sycamore which we had taken down a few years ago - no chance we want this one growing back up again!

Looking forward to getting started with some coppicing soon...

Mike

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Woodland fungi foraging

Last weekend a friend of mine, Geoff Dann, came to walk round the woods and look for fungi. He's an experienced forager, so I was more than happy to have him visit and join him for a stroll. Here's the pics of what we found, including the ones I ate for dinner! :-)

Penny Bun (Boletus edulis), also know as Porcino or Cep - one of the nice ones to eat!

Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) - this one's certainly not for eating, in fact the example in this picture is enough to kill two or three people...

Parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera), a good one to eat - though it has a similar relative that can cause stomach upsets in some people.

The Blusher (Amanita rubescens)

A Milkcap of some sort (Lactarius sp.)

False Death Cap (Amanita citrina). Not especially poisonous, but too similar to the Death Cap to be worth eating...

Poison Pie (Hebeloma sp.)

Peppery Bolete (Chalciporus piperatus)

The Miller (Clitopilus prunulus)

The classic toadstool - Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Brown Rollrim (Paxillus involutus)

Bolete being attacked by the Bolete Eater (Hypomyces chrysospermus)

An Amanita of some sort

Magpie Inkcap (Coprinopsis picea)

Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Another Milkcap (Lactarius sp.)

Common Yellow Brittlegill (Russula Ochroleuca)

Tawny Grisette (Amanita fulva)

And finally, here's some cooked Parasol and Penny Bun, ready to eat!

Mike

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Back to the woods: fungi, a woodpecker and chainsawing windblow

I had a good day in the woods today; not only did I get a decent amount of work done, I also got photos of some of the wildlife, including a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The first thing I saw upon driving in though was these Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria), so I stopped to get a pic:

Once out of the car, I realised they were all over the place!

Lots of other fungi out too, such as this decaying bolete:

and some Brown Roll Rims:

While I was getting my tools together I heard a woodpecker up in the trees. They're normally quite hard to photograph in the woods, being a bit shy, but this one came out in the open, though still a fair distance away:

I eventually got on with the job for the day, and headed over to Sweep Wood, using the log trolley to transport my tools:

The area I was working in had suffered from some windblow, here it is a week ago, before I did some work on it with my friends Paul and Marcus:

At the start of today the main clearing that's been created just had a couple more to take down:

but there were still quite a few trees across the path and some broken stools to deal with:

Here's a short timelapse video I took with the GoPro camera to show you what I was up to...

So now there's a new clearing, which I'm sure will spring into life next year with the light coming in:

and the path running past it is clear and safe to walk along:

Some of the logs that were produced were fairly rotten, so I left them for the bugs to live in, but there was quite a bit of good stuff, which I moved with the log trolley.

From today and the day I did with Paul and Marcus, we've got a decent pile of wood out of this bit of work!

We only need 4-5 times what's in that picture to do a year's heating at home...

Mike

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