Morpeth Fungi

Aniseed Mushroom

Tawny Funnel

Shaggy Parasol

Ananita sp

Ganoderma sp

A bit of a fungi posting today. I'm a bit frustrated with the weather as I'm not off work til Saturday and I don't have enough time to look along the coast. Last weekend was spent picking pounds of Blackberries and Crab Apples as it is the jelly making season. Around Morpeth I have seen Dipper on the stepping stones, a Buzzard flying low over Curley kews and a Redwing in the high Hawthorns today along the Abbey path. Two species above I cannot positively id are the Amanita sp as I'm wodering if it is Amanita porphyria (Grey Veiled Amanita) and the Ganoderma sp, it could be Southern Bracket. All the pics were taken in woodland on the edge of Morpeth.

Stobswood and the Borough woods

Yellow Stags Horn...Borough woods

Golden Scaleycap...Borough woods

Mystery moth...Abbey Meadows

Musk Mallow 'alba'...Old Brickworks, Stobswood

Young Shaggy Inkcaps...Stobswood

Larch Bolete...Old pit heap, Stobswood

Brickcap...Abbey Meadows

Yesterday turned out to be quite good for birds around Stobswood and Widdrington tip. There were 7 Snipe, 12 Grey partridges and an abundane of Skylark and Meadow pipit as well as a few Reed buntings. The best bird was a Long Eared Owl in the pine plantation where the old pit heap used to be. Also Buzzard and 33 Long tailed tits. Plenty of fungi and plants around here. Some good fungi along the Borough woods at Mopeth today. It was nice and sunny but cold so insects were few but a few Speckled woods, Wall and Small tortoiseshell butterflies at Stobswood.

Change of plan

Yesterday I was going to go up to Holy island and the North Northumberland coast following the flood of migrants on Wednesday. I was also going to the bird club meeting but I forgot I had something else on. The migrants had largely moved out by yesteday morning so I decided o go to my favourite local haunts. I popped into Widdrington tip and was surprised by the amount of insect activity. There were good numbers of common butterflies and loads of Bees and Hoverflies but my id skills are very poor on these species. There were 13 Snipe in the boggy clearings.

Common blue, Common and Black darter...Widdrington tip

Lesser Spearwort in the dune slacks

Some kind of spider on Branched bur-reed

Autumn Gentian...Hadston dunes

I then had a good look along Hadston dunes. Several Small coppers and Wall Browns and a few Silver Y's in the dunes. Very few birds but the highlights were 5 Snipe in the dune slacks, 23 Redpolls and 4 Buzzards overhead.

Moray Firth

Dolphin twitch at Portrose

Chanterelle at Carrbridge

Vapourer at Carrbridge

Bennyboy on Nairn beach in the early hours

Spent last week at Nairn on the Moray Firth. We were very fortunate with the weather as we had a sunny and warm week. I didn't target any particular species or sites but just happy to see what I encountered as I walked about. I picked up a few new plants but the fungi was good especially around Carrbridge where I saw my first Chanterelles...troops of them and huge numbers of Boletus species. The birding highlights were Snow Buntings on top of Cairngorm, Red throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe both with young and Red Kites on the Black isle. We watched Dolphins from Portrose just yards from the beach.