Day 132 - Another Fungal Foray

Another fungal foray today, but this time I was out with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust at Crich Chase Meadows, near Belper. The site includes ancient grassland and ancient woodland and we found a great variety of species and I learned a few things too :)

Meadow Waxcap (Hygrocybe pratensis)...

Vermillion Waxcap - Hygrocybe miniata (probably)...

Parrot Waxcap (plus a leafhopper!) - Hygrocebe psittacina

Two kinds of club fungus - Orange - Clavulinopsis laeticolor - and White - Clavaria fragilis (I think, could be wrong)

Some small fungus past sporing (possibly rootlet brittlestem as there were some nearby)...

Dung roundhead -Stropharia semiglobata

Blackening Waxcap - Hygrocebe conica

Liberty Cap - Psilocybe semilanceata (also know as the magic mushroom ;) !)

The gills of possibly a Slender Parasol...

True Parasol - Macrolepiota procera...

Amethyst Deceiver - Laccaria amethystina...
 

Wood Blewitt - Clitocybe nuda...

These are just some of the fungi found so it wasn't a bad haul at all this morning and there was plenty of ground we hadn't covered at that!

Day 131 - Autumn in the sunshine

A few scenes from another quick dog walk...

I watched all the activity on the ivy for a few minutes - very busy with flies and wasps!

This is the same shaggy inkcap which featured two days ago... a bit further on now...

I collected conkers (they all seem very small this year to me). Excuse the horribly blown out photo. The sunshine was so bright.

I scuffled through fallen leaves too :)

Ma and Pa are back home so my doggy duties are over now :)  (until next time!).

As a side note, they spent the week in Northumberland, by the observatory at Kielder. My dad had booked a talk about the Aurora Borealis there, at the observatory... on Wednesday... the same day that both Aurora Watch and the MET office sent out warnings for a high chance of seeing the Northern Lights. How lucky can you get?!!

Part way through the talk they all dashed out and had some spectacular views of the lights. Dad got some fantastic photos, and he and my mum stayed out until 2am for it!  He said one couple on the talk had travelled to Iceland on an Aurora tour and not seen anything at all - it's all chance, being in the right place and the right time. I wish I had been there.

Day 130 - Deer at Dusk

I went out for a Red Deer walk this evening, led by the Eastern Moors Partnership.  The walk was in the same area where I photographed the stag that featured here in last Friday's post.

We set off around 5pm and hadn't walked far when we saw the first stag.

Foolishly, I'd left my binoculars at home - they usually live in the car, but came into the house when I unloaded after last weekend's trip to the coast and I had forgotten to put them back in - doh! Though I can use my zoomy camera as substitute bins anyway and to be honest, I went out to enjoy a walk on the moors mainly - I'm not a huge fan of deer (though I don't dislike them particularly!)  and I can see them any time as they're pretty easy to find on Big Moor and there are a few closer to home as well.

More exciting than deer was the baby adder found on a path...

Then a short eared owl (I haven't see one of those for a while) and then a female hen harrier too - most unexpected!

The light was pretty rubbish - and fading - so my photographs are all terrible, especially the hand-held-at-full-zoom ones, but here are a few anyway!

Here's a challenge - Spot the Deer!

There was a lovely sunset as the group stood on the moor...

And I loved walking back after sunset, with torchlight, surrounded by the sounds of the bolving stags! I love being out at dusk and after dark - every time I walk after dark I tell myself I should make it more a more regular occurrence, but never do!

Did you spot the deer?

Here's a blurry and dull, full zoom photo (the one above was taken at partial zoom.

This was the closest deer and you can see how far out he was in the photo below, taken without any zoom - you can just see the green shape, right of centre - that's where the above deer was standing.

I mustn't leave it so long before I go for a dusk walk again!

Day 129 - Shaggy Inkcap

Two photos from a short walk on Wednesday evening...

I wish I had noticed the grass in the foreground which ruins my photo but I'd had a long, very busy day at school and then had to walk my mother's dog (ma and pa are away this week) so was rushing a bit so that I could get home!

Day 128 - A short walk

A quick walk on Tuesday morning, before the rain moved in.

Lots of autumnal things to take photographs of!

I also found a garden spider, wrapping up a meal

and putting it away for later!

Day 127 - Starlings

Monday was a wet and windy day but a glimmer of sunshine broke through the cloud as I was driving home from school and lit up these bright spindle leaves.

Later, I saw my first redwing of the season and noticed a flock of 'teenage' starlings. They're not common at here so it's rare I see them close to home. You can see their plumage is at in between stage.

Day 126 - Seabird Cruising

Sunday began with sunshine - perfect for my morning on the North Sea aboard the Yorkshire Belle, for an RSPB Skua and Shearwater cruise.  I've been on a few cruises on the Yorkshire Belle before, but this was my first time on the skua trip.

You might be surprised to hear that I didn't take many photos this time! Not for the want of trying though - moving birds, moving boat, moving sea - plus very bright sunshine at times. Not a good combination for photography!

The first sighting (other than gannets, cormorants and gulls) was a flock of Eider ducks flying by, which I did manage a quick snap of...

We spent a long time watching a Pomarine Skua - it stayed close to the boat, amongst the gulls for quite a long time and gave fantastic views - sitting on the water and flying by.

Pomarine Skua in flight

Pomarine Skua again

I'm not sure if sea fog rolled in or we sailed into it, but it was rather grey out, though the sun did break through.

I liked the grey / silvery look.

A sandwich tern which had been sitting on the buoy, being chased off by a gull...

Back in the harbour at Bridlington, there were turnstones along the harbour wall. I didn't get a clear photo.

The RSPB (based a Bempton Cliffs here) run these cruises every year from May/June to September/October. All the cruises I've been on with them have lasted 3-4 hours and have been fantastic. It costs £20 per person but I think it's well worth that as it raises funds for the RSPB and the bird sightings are brilliant. I love the puffin and gannet cruise which goes along the cliffs and gets great views of the nesting colonies and the skua and shearwater cruise, which goes further out from the coast) was brilliant too. If you're ever in the area between May and October, I'd highly recommend you look our for the cruises and book a place!

Sunday's sightings included...

Eider ducks, various gulls, cormorants, gannets, guillemots, Arctic skua, great skua, pomarine skua, sooty shearwater, red throated diver, sandwich tern and harbour porpoises.