Fungi season so far

Now the first frosts have come and the fungi season is coming to an end it is worth reflecting on what a great season it has been for my first intensive period of finding and identifying grassland fungi. With expert help I have been present whilst well in excess of 100 species of fungi have been photographed and named. I guess it is already obvious that I am drawn to the amazing genus of Hygrocybe aka waxcaps and it has certainly been a great waxcap season. My favourite finds have been the Splendid Waxcap (H. splendissima), the Blushing Waxcap (H. ovina), the Toasted Waxcap (H. colemanniana) and the variety of the Snowy Waxcap that has a dark centre and faint brown striae (H. virginia var fuscescens). All are relatively rarely reported but being in the right part of the country in the right type of grassland and in a great waxcap season does increase your chances considerably. Illustrated is the delightful Hygrocybe virginia var fuscescens.

Great new waxcap - Blushing Waxcap

I haven't reported a new waxcap for a week or two although I have come across one or two new ones. Yesterday's find though was the spectacular Blushing Waxcap (Hygrocybe ovina), found in the neighbouring village of Penallt right at the end of a very wet fungi foray. Another of those waxcaps, undoubtedly underreported, but nonetheless having less than 20 reported sightings in Wales in the last 35 years according to one online source. Previously this year I have found several instances of Hygrocybe ingrata (no English name) which has a similar level of reporting.

Yet another obscure waxcap

I found this a fair distance away from here on the lower slopes of the Sugar Loaf near Abergavenny but decided to include it in the blog because my blog focus has dwindled to just waxcaps at the moment. It is a little recorded variety of the Snowy Waxcap namely Hygrocybe virginea var fuscescens. It is distingushed from the normal Snowy Waxcap by the central brown spot and the brown striations.

...and now the Toasted Waxcap

Found in a field on the English side of the Wye, the rarely recorded Toasted Waxcap (Hygrocybe colemanniana). I had a feeling that it was H colemanniana as soon as I spotted it but it took some detailed examination from an expert to confirm the id. What a great waxcap season it has been.

Goblet Waxcap - New Species (for me) at New Grove

I am not sure I would have nailed this ID but some work with the microscope by an expert and we know it is Hygrocybe cantherellus - obvious from the pictures and description in the book once you know the answer. That makes around 25 waxcap species seen this year which is a good proportion of the species that could be found in this area.

The Honey Waxcap

Another delightful new waxcap here at The Beeches -smells of honey when drying hence the Honey Waxcap (Hygrocybe reedii). It also seems to me to have a characteristic colouring a certain shade of bright vivid orange that I haven't seen on other waxcaps. Some animal took away the bigger example that I was going to photograph so here's a new group coming through.

The Splendid Waxcap

Unbelievably I stumbled over another new waxcap in my East Field yesterday the Splendid Waxcap (Hygrocybe splendissima). At first I thought it was the Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea) but I realised that features were not quite right for H punicea and that it must be H splendissima which I had never seen before. It has a 'dry and irregularly compressed stem' and a dry cap which are two of the features that distinguish it from H punicea as well as a different colour of the cap.

And another.......

This time it is Hygrocybe irrigata - the Slimy Waxcap. A lovely mixture of slimy browns and greys with subtle grey gills. Why all these new waxcaps are appearing here is a mystery to me. Of course it might be the results of my sympathetic management but it is more likely that it is either the particular weather conditions or that I hadn't spotted these fungi before. With many of them you have to be patrolling daily - no sooner do they spring up then they get nobbled by animals or parisitized by other fungi - or they just finish their fruiting job really quickly.

A waxcap a day....

I keep falling over new waxcap species every time I venture outside. Here's a surprise - the rarely recorded Hygrocybe ingrata (no English name) which has appeared in two of the fields. It is not on the Monmouthshire fungi list apparently. I'm confident of the ID but the waxcap bible (Boertmann) has it as between 20 and 60mm cap size whereas 2 of the three I found were 70mm. I'll have to let him know!

Waxcap heaven

This is another of the newly identified waxcaps here at Waxcap Central. This is the Persistent Waxcap, now known as Hygrocybe acutoconica var acutoconica. I'm going to have to add up the number of species shortly to see if we have passed from a site of regional importance to one of national importance. I guess the reality is that most sites undercount the number of species due to identification difficulties or just the lack of someone to patrol every day looking for waxcaps!

More new waxcaps

And this time here at The Beeches. I spotted some different looking waxcaps in the East field which is the best for waxcaps. If I hadn't had help I would have talked myself into assigning all three specimens into known waxcaps I have already identified and would have decided they were just unusual specimens but all three types looked different. Luckily an expert was on hand to look at them and then take them away for some serious identification work. Above is the first of the new species for The Beeches - the Cedarwood Waxcap (Hygrocybe russiocoriacea). Its distinctive feature is a smell of pencil shavings.

While we are on the subject of new waxcaps...

I came across this one on unimproved limestone pasture near Chepstow. It looks very like the little recorded Hygrocybe virginea var ochraceopallida which is usually found on limestone......

Yellow Foot Waxcap

This was a new waxcap for me - not found here at The Beeches but in a hilly field overlooking Tintern. It has a distinctive yellow colouration at the base of the stipe - hence its common name. The latin name is Hygrocybe flavipes.

Golden Waxcap

The Golden Waxcap (Hygrocybe chlorophana) is a common waxcap but I still struggle often to decide whether the yellow waxcap in front of me at any particular time is Golden Waxcap or Butter Waxcap or indeed one of the other yellowish waxcaps. I had a look at a group of waxcaps in a neighbour's field and I am reasonably confident they are H. chlorophana. They had the viscid cap, the greasy stipe, the stipe flattened and split and the distant gills so I guess they must be. I look forward to the day when I can tell from a few yards away which of the damn yellow waxcaps is in front of me.

Meadow Waxcap now fruiting

Actually there have been a few small ones a few weeks ago but this is the first proper Meadow Waxcap (Hygrocybe pratensis) of the season. I am expecting scores if not hundreds more. They are edible but not particularly tasty. The colour and the deeply decurrent gills are diagnostic and it is an outstandingly handsome fungi.

New Species - Twenty Plume Moth

It can be disheartening to try and identify a micro moth but this tiny one that turned up inside the house was so distinctive under a hand lens that I gave it a go. It took very little time to id this as a Twenty Plume Moth (Alucita hexadactyla) which strangely seems to have twelve plumes (six on each wing) rather than twenty.

Impressive (and tasty) fungi

I found this in a field in the next village - despite the recent damage it had sustained it is a very robust and impressive fruiting body. It is Agaricus macrosporus which as far as I know has no common name but still makes a good lunch!

Red Bartsia - also spreading

Definitely one of my favourites - this late-flowering semi-parasitic flower is sometimes hard to spot amongst the grass. However close examination showed that it was spreading like the other flowers that for once get a chance to set seed. It has increased around the original couple of plants but also sent a few outliers about fifteen feet in several directions. I have cut most of the fields but shall leave this patch uncut for a couple of weeks yet.

New Species - Fox Moth

I haven't set the moth trap recently but nonetheless I have a new moth species to report as I came across this very distinctive larva in the field and I am reasonably sure it is a Fox Moth larva (Macrothylacia rubi). A symphony of orange, black and hair.

Deer numbers increasing

There has been a lot of deer activity this year and yesterday I found eight deer in the North field which is the most I have seen at one go. Seven appeared to be the standard spotted variety of fallow deer but one was the less common black colouration. I had spotted one of that colour close to the house the day previously and managed a quick photo.

Waxcaps - the season so far

It seems to have been an early start this year with a number of waxcaps fruiting here before September - we have had Glutinous waxcap (Hygrocybe glutinipes), Butter Waxcap (H. ceracea), Meadow Waxcap var pallida (H. pratense var pallida), Parrot Waxcap (H. psittacina), Fibrous waxcap (H. intermedia) and yesterday Blackening waxcap. There is a lot of debate about the taxonomy of blackening waxcaps with some authors recognising different blackening species and some accepting different varieties. Following Boertmann for the moment this looks like H. conica var conica but I am sure molecular investigation will sort the whole subject out in due course.

Deceiver 2 - Laccaria amethysta

This 'Deceiver' is the beautifully coloured Amethyst Deceiver and has a home in the shadow of our largest Beech tree where it appeared last year and this.

Deceiver 1 - Laccaria laccata

I didn't recognize this fungi but it turns out to be one of the most common in Britain. There was a small group of them in the West field but fairly close to the edge so it might be that the fungi is associated with the field edge trees. It is 'The Deceiver' so called due to its variability.

MAJOR NEW SPECIES - Lesser Horseshoe Bat

I know that Lesser Horseshoes are in the area - there is a big roost about three miles away but I hadn't even detected Lesser Horseshoes with my, admittedly fairly crude, bat detector. However I was in the shed, wondering again about the extent of the bat droppings in there so I glanced up and right above my head were a couple of Lesser Horseshoes. They are an outstanding bat whether in flight or hanging brilliantly and stylishly when roosting. There was a professional photographer on site at the time so he helpfully took a quick picture for me. Brilliant or what?

Fleabane back in numbers

I found Fleabane for the first time last year when it delightfully appeared in a field that had been used as a quad bike track and was slowly recovering due to our sympathetic management for nature. Just be leaving the couple of flower spikes to seed by cutting round them we have now been rewarded by around 20 spikes this year. It will be interesting to see how many come up next year.

New Species - Entoloma porphyrophaeum

There's going to be a focus on fungi for a while and I have some expert help with the identifications. This Entoloma came up as a group of four fruiting bodies and although there are 70 odd Entolomas to choose from in the UK this id seems clear enough. The only item that didn't fit exactly at first sight was the colour of the gills which seemed to me more brownish than pinkish but a spore print came out right and the specimen was a bit on the old side. That is one of the issues with identifying fungi - they morph rapidly with cap and gills changing shape and colour in a matter of hours or days

Bird Feeder Photos

I wanted to confirm that the occasional visitor to the bird feeder was a Marsh Tit and not the rarer Willow Tit and so I have left the trail camera taking pictures. The Marsh/Willow Tit is way too smart for this and appears sometimes but always facing the wrong way or hidden by the feeder so I still don't have the answer. However what I do have is 5,000 pictures, mainly of sparrows, the commoner tits, greater spotted woodpeckers and from time to time the full majesty of the jay who is about as big as the feeder itself.

First waxcaps of the year

Two lots of waxcaps have appeared and the one above is Butter Waxcap (Hygrocybe ceracea) (Note: 24 September - I now think the photo shows Golden Waxcaps and not Butter Waxcaps- I really must get these yellow waxcaps nailed) which is reasonably common here at The Beeches. The other I have not managed to identify though I have seen it here before. It is currently in the hands of an expert so hopefully I will be able to name it this year. In fact I hope this year to have a complete list of waxcaps at The Beeches by filling in the gaps of two or three that I have not managed to identify.

Broad-leaved helleborine

I was quite excited to discover a second orchid species on site in June - the Broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine). Now I have found a second example in a different field and a very strong, tall plant as well. They are both now in flower and already being visited by pollinators (see photo). I was concerned about the potential for cross pollination as they are separated by two field boundaries and some trees but the internet is telling me that they can self pollinate so I look forward to a whole crop of them in a few years.

Life and death in the pond

I came across this brutal scene in the pond today - a grasshopper had made the mistake of leaping into the water and was being attacked by a pack of diving beetles who each had a fierce grip on the doomed orthopterid.

New family - Digger Wasps

I'm fairly sure that this is a wasp, reasonably convinced it is a digger wasp and minded that it is Ectemnius cephalotes but that is as far as I am willing to go. I have a constant source of insects flying into the house whenever it is sunny and the french windows are open but identifying them is not so easy.

July verges (2)

On the way to Monmouth is a tiny corner verge that has a delightful display of flowers including the increasingly uncommon Field Scabious. This is the bit of verge that I lobbied to be protected after the Scabious was cut down in full flower last year. Thanks to a sympathetic ear in the Highways department this area is now protected. I should go and do a survey to record the range of flora that can exist on a tiny patch of land that if it is left to flower each year.

July verges (1)

Whilst Monmouthshire County Council have not managed to follow through on the major reduction of unnecessary verge cutting they were planning, there are still a number of valuable verges around. This show of Common Spotted Orchids from a verge near the village is not supposed to be one of the formally protected ones but it has managed to escape the cutters this year. A few yards further along where the verge is protected there are many more orchids and also Rough Hawkbits, Knapweed and other delight.

New family - Cuckoo Wasps

I found a tiny insect that had expired in the house and couldn't find anything like it in my generalist insect books. With some help I understand it is a Cuckoo Wasp (the Chrysididae family)although I am not sure what species yet. They are mostly kleptoparisites laying eggs in their particular host's nests and then their larvae can feed on the host's eggs/larvae/foodstore. It has an iridescent metallic green abdomen - which made me think it was a beetle. The thorax however is a vivid violet blue and the head and wings made me think it was a fly. It is also tiny so the photo above is taken with my USB microscope.

Orchids 61 and 62 surprise me

I had settled on 60 orchids as the total count for 2015 but deep in the long grass some distance from other orchids I came across two more. That tips us over 25% as the increase on last year so a satisfactory year for orchids at least.

New species but not sure which....

I found a dead bee in the house and decided this was an ideal opportunity to nail down the bee species and add it to The Beeches species list. Not so simple. It turns out that the workers of Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum are to all intents and purposes identical short of dissection and that is precisely what I have.

The Marbled White arrives

This is for me the iconic butterfly of meadows in Monmouthshire. Its strong and distinctive flight and its striking colouration is usually around for just a couple of weeks in July. This year has arrived appropriately on 1 July which is earlier than previous years. Hopefully that means we shall have them around for most of the month.

Band-eyed Brown Horsefly

Another new species, or I should say newly identified because there are plenty around. This horsefly was one of a major fly invasion into the house on this hot day. I persuaded most to leave but this one had already expired so I was able to ID it and it is the Band-eyed Brown Horsefly (Tabanus bromius). One of its characteristics is a vivid violet-red eye band through the middle of its large green eyes.

Another new moth

Someone has just helped ID the other moth I caught in the trap despite the awfulness of the photo. It is a Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis).

It's wildlife Jim....

...but not as we know it. This year rabbits have become a problem writ large as this picture of early morning on our drive shows. I have been wondering how I am going to deal with the issue for next year and considering several options (short of shooting or trapping). Long-term I'd like to see Lynx back in the UK but meanwhile I am thinking about electric fences, removing areas of bracken and bramble where they hide out/breed and providing set-aside areas that are designed to be particularly attractive to rabbits. I'll have to continue cageing the most precious plants but unfortunately the less precious are being impacted with the current populations. It could be that the dreadful mixamotosis will have its toll as well as I have seen a couple of rabbits with symptoms. Right now I need more foxes and some buzzards to feast on the crowds.

New Species - Mottled Beauty

I got out the moth trap for the first time this year. There were only two moths in it so I probably have not picked the right spot for it yet. However one was this rather fine-looking female Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata repandata).

Establishing a niche - Marsh Bedstraw

It doesn't take much for flowers to spread widely - they just need to be allowed to flower and seed. One notable example here is Marsh Bedstraw. I found just a couple of plants of it a couple of years ago on a grassy bank that had previously been cut regularly. I have been careful to avoid cutting it and now just a couple of years later there is a whole bank of it - hundreds of flowerheads. It is a much more delicate and attractive bedstraw than the coarse Goosegrass that dominates in the richer areas.

Meadow perfection

Just about a mile from here is a convent with an outstanding meadow which was the venue for the Monmouthshire Meadows Group open day this year. Here is a picture of what a meadow should look like in June.

New Species - Ghost Moth

I spotted this large moth climbing a blade of Yorkshire Fog after I strimmed some nettles in the East Field. It turns out to be a Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli humuli) one of the five Swift moths to be found in the UK.

Orchid number 60

As of today we have 60 orchids on site - which is a big improvement on the 11 we had in 2012. Up until now the orchids have all been Common Spotted Orchids but the latest one is a new species - a Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine). It is more of a woodland flower and it is fittingly under the largest tree on site - one of the beeches that gives this place its name. I normally only post photos of plants actually in flower but I make an exception for this new orchid.

Weaseltastic

I have seen a weasel on a couple of occasions hunting for bank voles in the bank vole mansion that is our garden wall. But I was amazed to see in broad daylight with us and also decorators around a whole troupe of weasels moving into the wall. I am pretty sure some were being carried so they must have been kits. It was weasaltastic for us to watch but to the bank voles it was simply the great weasel apocalypse. Never mind I am sure they will appear again once the coast is clear. I set up my camera and just managed to get one shot with animals in it but was gratified to find that the photo contained two weasels rather than one.

The complex Tormentils

I have an increasing amount of Tormentil in the fields but it is not all straightforward Tormentil (Potentilla erecta). I have identified Trailing Tormentil as well (Potentilla anglica). The latter has four or five petals (rather than four) with leaves shortly stalked above and longer stalked below (rather than almost unstalked) and larger flowers. More complexity comes in with a triple hybrid known as Hybrid Cinquefoil which is quite similar to Trailing Tormentil. If I can spot that and also Creeping Cinquefoil then I will have the whole set. The first picture above is P. erecta and the second P. anglica.

The handsome Bullfinch

Surely one of the most attractive British birds. And also a gentleman as he is often seen accompanying his mate as he was on this occasion, sort of hanging around waiting, like me when on a shopping trip, as she looked for something to eat. This was the first time I managed to get my camera out and grab a photo of a bird, that I remember in numbers from my childhood but which seem uncommon today.

Spring Sedge - spreading well

I first found Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea) last year but only two or three spikes in each of the West Field and the East Field. This year there are dozens of examples in the West Field so this delightful sedge is doing well.