Fungi at St James & Buck Wood. 17 & 21 Nov.

On 17 Nov I thought I would go and have a look around Denso Marston Nature Reserve but the lay-by was full, so I drove around the block wondering where to put my car. I pulled into the carpark of St James church and decided to have a look around the church garden. These are photos of the fungi I found growing there.

I particularly liked the Ivory and Meadow Coral and was pleased to spot the Wrinkled Club.

There were quite a few very tiny Bonnet like mushrooms, only 5mm across or less, tiny.

After going round the garden a few times I checked on the lay-by, there was a space, so I moved my car and went down to the nature reserve.

I decided to take my long lens with me down to Denso Marston Nature Reserve, though the macro lens and ring flash got most of the use – more fungi, most of it small.

At the Spider Club feeding station I changed to my long lens for the birds there – a nice Nuthatch, a smart Blackbird and a ringed Blue Tit. And then back the other way.

I peered under the hedge just past the small timber bridge and spotted the Fluted Bird’s Nest Fungus that I had seen on a September visit. They no longer have the white sides, nor the eggs in the bottom.

These are photos taken on two visits to Buck Wood, one on the 17 after the walk through Denso Marston and the 2nd on Nov 21st.

The first photo is of a fallen tree covered in Turkey tail, Trametes versicolor. It is at the edge of the mill race at the Thackley end of the footbridge.

The 2nd photo is of Bristle Moss on a tree next to the path up to the Leeds Liverpool Canal. There is quite a lot of it on the tree with the larger growths being where the small branches split.

The 3rd photo is, I think, of a Squirrel’s dining table. A moss covered flat stone with lots of cracked open Acorns. This is a bit smaller than the one I saw in Midgeley Wood behind the Thompson Lane Allotments on the Walker Wood Fungi. 9 Nov. adventure.

One of the things I like about taking these photos is the number of creepy crawlies that can be in the frame with the fungus. The gills of the Blackening Brittlegill, Russula adjusta have in the region of 15 tiny insects tucked between them. I should be getting my books out to identify them.

The pale Hoof Fungus, which I think is Fomes fomentarius, is the 1st photo from the visit on Nov 21st.

The 2 fungus free photos from that day are of a Swan on the Leeds Liverpool Canal and a wheel barrow on the weir of the River Aire just up from the footbridge.