26 March: 4 Seasons in one day

5 of us today, plus a fellow enthusiast from the Lichens Group of Sorby turned up. What is rapidly becoming the traditional Breakfast Meeting at Grindleford Caff was preceded for me by another visit to the area above the Gorge for a bit of birding, the highlights today being Meadow Pipits in some numbers, and a pair of Stonechat scolding away on the heather.

The weather was a very mixed bag. We had a bright start then the sky went very dark and we had a heavy hail shower. There was a Network Rail van and 3 workmen in Rough Wood, but the word has not yet been given for work to go ahead so we can only assume it was some kind of reccy. we continued to find plenty of crusts and small ascos along with quite a few slime moulds. Plenty to keep John and Steve busy with their microscopes. Once again, I tried my hand at macro photography with some mixed results. Sally and I were distracted by quite a few interesting invertebrates seen through our hand lenses.

Top: The black globes from last visit’s Metatrichia floriformis have now burst open to reveal their orange spores.

2nd down: A Pill Millipede spotted on one of the dead logs

3rd down: Another Slime Mould: possibly Physarum robustum

Bottom: Lasiosphaeria ovina.

 

 

Steve has been busy communicating with other interested parties. His correspondence and other links, as well as a great many photos from Longshaw estate can be seen here. We hope that others will join us for our visit on 16th April. It is an official Sorby Midweek Fungus Meeting and is open to all.

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12 March: Rough Wood:

I missed the previous outing as I was on holiday. Perhaps I can persuade Steve to write something about that.

Belatedly, a few words about our most recent visit to Rough Woods before we set off again tomorrow. There were 7 of us – are our numbers growing, or was it the warm weather that brought us out? I had an early start and had an hour above Padley Gorge to see if there were any Summer birds in evidence, and to enjoy the changing landscapes created by an early morning mist. No Summer visitors in evidence, although there was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, a Nuthatch and a few Goldcrest around.

After breakfast in Grindleford Cafe, we went along to Rough Woods. Carol, who really knows her Hypogeous fungi, set about truffle hunting, and others of us, taking advantage of the fine weather set up our cameras to try and capture the beauty and keep a photographic record of some of our finds. There were a number of tiny ascos which attracted our attention, and plenty to keep the microscopists busy. Lots of data is now being produced and I’m hoping our Lists page will soon be populated with records past and present.

Top: Lachnum brevipilus. Below: Metatrichia floriformis