Savernake Forest, just outside Marlborough, Wiltshire, is privately owned and seems very well looked after for its wildlife, in spite of its being managed by Forestry England. The Marquess of Allesbury and his son the Earl of Cardigan are the owners. It has SSSI status for the diversity and in particular ancient oak trees and is open to the public every day of the year except one to maintain its private status.
I have been many times before over the years for picnics and birthday camping parties with any number of unruly schoolchildren which left me completely exhausted and slightly traumatised, but I had not ventured so far into the depths before.
This was my first fungus foray of the year and I did exactly what I did last year which was not to see any at all, then remember to actually look. I had certainly not expected to see so many weird and wonderful species. I am slightly reassured when AI turns out not to be very good at certain things and fungus identification is one of them – cryptic crossword clues are another. So most of the photos are not labelled because I simply don’t have a clue, but I have guessed for some of them at least. The captions such as they are come before the photos.
Very few people were around which was great. Those I did meet were friendly and rather than wondering who this strange person was getting up close to trees with his camera, seemed genuinely interested in what I was finding. One couple had found tiny circular fungi on the back of an oak leaf.
I stopped at the first fallen tree and was delighted and amazed at the sheer variety.
One of my favourites of the day, like a flower, probably a type of Chanterelle.
A rather beaten up bracket fungus.
Something rather Tolkienesque (and beautiful) about this one. It made me think of Galadriel’s mirror. Maybe a species of Ganoderma, such as the Artist’s Bracket, Ganoderma applanatum.
A young type of Ganoderma?
So, an extraordinary variety on just one tree. Those below were found along the way.
A type of Inky Cap?
I love that someone had taken the trouble to make this arrangement.
Another fallen tree hosting multiple species.
Puffball?
Oyster Mushrooms, the black dots perhaps suggesting parasitic insect damage.
This is most likely Delicate Fern Moss, Thuidium delicatulum, a strikingly bright green.
Possibly Honey Fungus.
A species of Jelly Fungus.
It’s a mast year so the ground was carpeted with Sweet Chestnut husks (immediately below), acorns and Beech nuts.
Acorns.
Autumnal colours.
At a crossroads.
Speckled Wood Butterfly.
A magnificent Beech tree.
Not entirely fungus-free. This might be Weeping Polypore but that is usually found on dead wood.
Another fungus hidden amongst the leaves.
Beech nuts.
Two of the forest’s famous ancient Oaks. White Road Oak.
Bumble Oak.
And yet more fungi.
Cluster-bonnet?
Root or Butt Rot Fungus?
These are stunning, Pendant-Tooth Fungi, like stalactites.
A pale, translucent Jelly Ear.
A couple of monsters.
The one below seemed to be hiding.
Another favourite, ghoulish.
Very small, very fast birds seemed to be everywhere. The Merlin app identified Robins, Blackbirds, Wrens, Great, Long-tailed, Marsh and Blue Tits, Chaffinches, Goldcrests and … Treecreepers. I had never seen a Treecreeper before and couldn’t believe my luck – the highlight of the day. They are not uncommon but very secretive and supremely well camouflaged. Had he or she not revealed his or herself against the sky I would probably not have seen it at all. It took me a minute to see him or her again on the last photo even on the computer screen. The curved bill is unmistakeable and the images show how they ascend a tree in a spiral taking insects from crevices. It was also lovely to see, at a distance, as opposed to the occasional Chaffinch in the garden, a flock of at least twenty in such a place.
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