Fungi hunting

It was a beautiful morning for a walk around Pulpit Hill and was so warm I was out in a short sleeved t-shirt (not a regular occurrence in mid October!). With the remnants of hurricane Ophelia due to hit later in the day, it seemed wise to make the most of it and head for the hills.

So far this year there seem to have been very few fungi around in the woods near us. Everywhere is just so dry (although the dog seemed to manage to find plenty of muddy puddles) that the fungi just aren't fruiting yet. Perhaps the storm will bring us some rain and make the conditions just right.

I found a few large clouded funnels, one or two rosy bonnets, some sulphur tuft and some small patches of porcelain fungus. I didn't see a single puffball, amethyst deceiver or safffrondrop bonnet ... which should all be easy to find at this time of year.

Clouded funnel - there were a few 'troops' in the leaf litter

Porcelain fungus growing on a fallen branch

A small patch of grey coral fungus was growing in the middle of the hill fort on the top of the hill. This is a common fungus, but I've never spotted it before. It looked more purple than grey, but I'm fairly sure that's what it was.

Grey coral fungus
 

There were signs of new fungi appearing. I suspect this will turn into a parasol or dapperling, but I'll keep an eye on it as it grows.

Last week I noticed some interesting fungi just starting to appear on some felled beech tree trunks. I was keen to go back today and see what they'd turned into. 

A week ago ... hard to tell what they'll be!

I'm fairly sure they're golden scalycap, with large sticky yellow caps that are covered in little brown scales. Quite an unusual find, so it was nice to see.

 

 

To finish off my hunt through the woods, I spotted a large white object in the leaves. I went to investigate, thinking it might be a fungus and found a large skull. I'm guessing it's either a fox or a badger, but I will challenge Bug Mad Girl to find out what it is later. She loves it when we find bones, especially skulls!

 

Now the wind has picked up and the sky has turned red (apparently the storm has blown sahara sand into the air, which is turning the sky a very strange colour). Time to brace ourselves for the storm!