A lucky encounter

This guy suprised me today, i was in a meloncoly mood thinking about other things. I turned a bend in the river and spotted the Heron standing quite still chiling out. I am sorry i disturbed him or her! but before the heron took to the air i managed to grab this one image.

Ambersham Common

Every year i pick a local site to photograph throughout the year. The landscape,wildlife and plantlife all get documented as much as i can. This year it is Ambersham common.

A walk this morning to find my way around turned out to be quite beautiful , A heavey frost and some early morning sun made me feel quite alive again.

Ambersham common boasts all six native Bitish species of reptiles.Sndews can be found in the damper areas along with many other unusual or rare plants. Lichens,fungi, insects along with anything else i can find will all be worthy of trying to record.

I even found some fungi  this morning !  Yes i know the frost should have finished it off and knowone is more suprised than i.

Blistered cup  Peziza vesiculosa

not that uncommon but usually found on manure heaps or rich soil. The first time i have come across it so i was chuffed.

Not a bad walk .

November block.

November is not a great month for me, i always seem to struggle for inspiration. Not that i havn't been busy. There is always work in the office to do.

I did manage a couple of days out this week to try and get a few images. With the fungus season lasting so long this year there is always something of interest in the woodlands.

On Sunday i decided to head for Wisley gardens in Surrey stopping off on the way at St.Leonards Forest in Horsham.



These pine trees proved too irresistable to pass by without taking a few pictures. They also proved a good place for a few fungi images too.

Macrolepiota rhacodes appeared in good numbers and is always worth a photograph. As well as Pholiota squarrosa a very attractive fungi and quite common in places.

On to Wisley gardens. Wisley always has something for me to photograph at anytime of the year so it is a good place to go when you lack insipration.

It wasn't long before my activities attracted attention.

I noticed some nice Earthstar fungi in the Arboretum (Geastrum triplex) and decided to take my time getting a few nice images. This robin was quite interested and stayed around for a while. Maybe it was something to do with my custard creams.

Although i do love photographing fungi it was nice to find plenty of other subjects to work on. The winter weather brings out the textures and colours of many tree barks which i find very photogenic and worth spending time searching for the perfect frame. These Birch trees proved irresistable.

Now and again if you take a closer look at your surroundings you notice details you may otherwise miss. While photographing the birch bark i noticed this Birds nest fungi (Crucibulum laeve) on bark chippings at the base of the tree. Fascinating.

Devils Fingers

Clathrus Archeri

At last after years of searching i finally found this rare fungus.

Sometimes known as 'Devils Fingers' this native of Australia found its way into Europe some  years ago where it is still quite uncommon. More recently it has found its way into southern parts of the UK.
It seems to like pastures or grassland which is where i found it. Infact i found 8 friuting bodies in one small area. Some in better condition than others.

It has quite an unpleasant smell which has been refered to similar to rotting flesh. It is a member of the Stinkhorn family. Stinkhorns have a unique method of spore dispersal. The spores are contained in a fetid slime that coats part of the fruiting bodyand dispearsed by flies attracted to the odour of rotting flesh.

The Stinkhorn and Devils fingers start off as a gelatinous egg. On maturity the egg erupts and the fruiting body emerges with the slime or gleba adhering to varius parts of the fungus.

There are still a few other members of the stinkhorn family i would like to see and photograph so if anyone knows where they appear let me know.