This was our most outright enjoyable survey for some time with quite the profusion of wildlife, overshadowed only by the knowledge that the area (not far from me) is commonly and currently used for hare coursing, which is of course illegal. Just the day before a woman had remonstrated with a perpetrator from her window. He responded by taking the hare from his dog’s mouth and ripping it in half in front of her. But it was wonderful to see for example five Roe Deer, a Buzzard and little flocks of Redwings, and a number of clearly active badger setts and latrines (we even wondered if what we were seeing was not one giant sett with its annexes, subsidiaries and outliers) showing recent digging, hairs and prints. Everyone was cheered by the sunshine as we walked around fields and through woods. These are some of the sett entrances.
The sheer quantities of earth badgers move so efficiently never cease to amaze me. This is a badger paw print.
We covered 4.75 miles over five hours (we stop and potter around a lot), leaving plenty of time to admire trees and hedgerows. I caught the oak at the head of this post just as the sun kissed it.
There was also a bewildering variety of fungi – it has by all accounts been a very good year for them.
I have just read a newspaper article about an alarming rise in the number of mushroom poisonings in France: 1,482 between July and December in 2023 and 1,923 the year before. 17 deaths have been recorded since 2016 and there have already been 40 serious cases this year. This is blamed on the increasing use of identification apps which are of course imperfect. My ignorance extends so far as not to be sure whether or not two mushrooms are of different species or the same at different stages of development. My thanks to others on the survey who were kind enough to point them out to me.
I am pretty confident that this is Xylaria hypoxylon, the Candlesnuff Fungus or Stagshorn.
This is likely Yellow Stagshorn, Calocera viscosa.
Amongst the rest are probably Beefsteak, Waxcaps, Chicken of the Woods and young Turkeytail but I wouldn’t put money on it. One species ought to be called the Fried Egg Fungus.
We could not even be sure if this is a fungus or an excrescence from the tree.
Finally, sometimes you just can’t beat water droplets glinting in the sun on Sphagnum Moss.
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