Sarah Lambert

I just made a very similar comment on the second photograph of it 😂

Ooh - that's the much more exciting Field Woundwort - a species I virtually never see locally - declining and Near Threatened in GB and England!

Backlit Harebell Flower

Plenty of Harebells still flowering in the limestone grassland of Castor Hanglands North Heath (though all the more acid-loving species that formerly grew there have long gone). A last taste of summer perhaps...

#wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Backlit flower of Common Rock-rose

Second flowering of Meadow Buttercup

Great Mullein

A trio of yellow blooms at Castor Hanglands NNR today, looking very summery in the surprisingly warm November sunshine.

Common Rock-rose, Meadow Buttercup and Great Mullein all making up for lost time after a summer of sheep grazing.

#wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Blue flowers of Viper's Bugloss in a former limestone quarry

A final flourish of blue brightening a gloomy November afternoon, from a late-flowering Viper's-bugloss plant growing in a former limestone quarry at Old Sulehay NR

#wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildlifebcn.org

A Dog Stinkhorn Mutinus caninus emerging from its 'egg'

Collared Earthstar Geastrum triplex

A Gold-flecked Woodwax Hygrophorus chrysodon clearly showing the yellow 'teeth' on the margin

Solitary Amanita Amanita echinocephala

A few of the more exciting finds from a recce of Collyweston Great Wood NNR in preparation for a fungus walk I'm co-leading tomorrow. Exciting to find lots of Dog's Stinkhorn and Collared Earth-star while Gold-flecked Woodwax was new to me, growing close to several Solitary Amanita

#fungifriday

A Dark Swordgrass moth sitting on a weathered wooden table

A December Moth sitting on a wooden table

A mild but damp night brought a presumably migrant Dark Swordgrass and the first December Moth of the year, definitely a bit ahead of itself! Plus the now standard fare of Merveille du Jour and White Point...
#mothsmatter #teammoth

Onward and upward...looking forward to catching up over Christmas

A Noble False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis sitting on weathered wood

A suitably seasonal Samhain encounter with this stunning Noble False Widow, lurking near our compost bins. Spiders and their webs have been viewed as powerful symbols of fate, creativity, and the interconnectedness of life, death, and the spiritual world.

It's certainly spreading locally - I first recorded it from the Peterborough area in 2019 - I've now found it at multiple sites, always on fallen birch.

The first one is Plicatura crispa - it has wrinkled gills and isn’t a polypore.

It was a real pleasure - we did have to drag ourselves away!!

Crimped Gill on a fallen Silver Birch trunk

Aniseed Funnel, a greenish toadstool with a definite aniseed fragrance, among birch leaves

Fly Agaric with relatively few white spots

Bay Bolete

Great morning leading a 'Fentastic Fungi' walk at Holme Fen NNR with a group of young conservationists. Over 40 species named and lots of discussion on how to identify fungi and their importance in ecosystems. Organised as part of the Peatland Progress project
@greatfen.org.uk #fungifriends

Clockwise from top left: Earth-tongues (Geoglossum cookeanum), Limestone Waxcap (Hygrocybe calciphila), Blackening Waxcap (Hygroctbe conica), Snowy Waxcap(Cuphophyllus virgineus), White Spindles (Clavaria fragilis), Earthy Waxcap (Cuphophyllus fornicatus), Warted Amanita (Amanita strobiliformis), Mousepee Pinkgill (Entoloma incanum) and Persistent Waxcap (Hygrocybe persistens) and Toad's-ear (Otidia bufonia)

Aargh -a busy weekend and somehow I missed out on #WildFungiHour

So for #MushroomMonday an assemblage of grassland fungi from Old Sulehay NR, a former limestone quarry, cared for by @wildlifebcn.org using wonderful Highland Cattle and Mouflon to maintain a short open sward.

Names in ALT.

Thank you - it’s a beautiful tree 😍

It's about 8 metres - with the crowns extending for about 20 metres - a magnificent tree!

Looking up into the crown of a much-loved ancient Small-leaved Lime coppice stool in Old Sulehay Forest on a gloomy grey day, the remaining leaves gradually changing from green to clear-yellow.

@wildlifebcn.org #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Purple flower of Sweet Violet

Sloes on a Blackthorn bush, with out-of-focus golden leaves in the background

Fluffy fruit of Old-man's-beard

Golden-yellow leaves of Wild Service

A very slow meander round Old Sulehay NR, focusing on fungi, but a late-flowering Sweet Violet captured my attention, together with more seasonal fruits of Blackthorn and Old-man's-beard, as well as golden leaves of Wild Service.

Very late for #wildflowerhour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

A poster describing an exhibition of photography, artworks and treasures

Hedgerow fruit, field and forest fungi, leaves aflame in red and gold – autumn whispers its magic.

@kathrynparsons.bsky.social and I will be celebrating the season at our exhibition on 22–23 November. We’d love you to join us.

#photography #art #johnclarecountryside

I wonder if your fungus might be Cowpat Gem Cheilymenia granulata...

Snap - we had the first for our garden this week! And more Merveille du Jour than ever before...

The Satellite, a reddish-brown moth with an orange spot on each forewing, with a white spot adjacent (the satellite that gives it its name)

Side view of The Satellite moth showing its interestingly shaped thorax. with a peak of scales towards the front

A Cypress Carpet on a wooden board

Having a very large Monterey Cypress in our neighbour's garden, it's perhaps surprising that we haven't previously recorded a Cypress Carpet in the Peterborough trap, although there are still few records for VC32. Also good to see a return of The Satellite, last seen in 2014!

#mothsmatter #teammoth

Looking forward to leading a walk at Holme Fen NNR on 28 the October to discover the hidden world of fungi! From weird shapes to wild colours, we’ll explore how fungi live, grow, and connect the forest. Perfect for anyone aged 13–25 who’s curious about nature...

Should have said Huntingdonshire Fungus Group!

Earthy Powdercap Cystoderma amianthinum growing among moss

A deep orange Larch Bolete Suillus grevillei

Plums-and-Custard Tricholomopsis rutilans, with shades of purple and yellow, growing on a mossy pine stump

Orange cups of Hare's Ear Otidia onotica growing among fallen leaves

Another excellent field meeting with the Huntingdonshire Flora Group at Wakerley Woods - four of my favourite finds were a tiny Earthy Powdercap, richly-coloured Larch Boletes, a perfect specimen of Plums-and-Custard on a pine stump and masses of Hare's-ear.

#mushroommonday 📷🍄

For #mushroommonday two slightly spooky-looking fungi found on local sites last week - the rather ghostly pale-lilac of a young Pearly Webcap and Blushing Rosette exuding droplets of clear red liquid.

🍄📷 #fungifriends

It has the look of Green Nightshade to me - but I'm not totally confident either without fruit!

A subtle palette of flowers from arable and a grass verge in Helpston, including Sharp-leaved Fluellen (always good to see), Creeping Thistle, Autumn Hawkbit, Sun Spurge, Perennial Sow-thistle, Field Madder, White Dead-nettle, Groundsel and Hogweed.

#wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Clockwise from top left: Bristly Ox-tongue, Argentinian Vervain, Common Ragwort, Purple Toadflax, Rough Hawk's-beard, Garden Cat-mint, White Mustard, Welted Thistle and Common Mallow

A summery array of flowers by a footpath - last year there was a mad range of species from imported topsoil. Now it's settling back into weedy rank grassland, with a smattering of exotics including Argentinian Vervain and Garden Cat-mint...
Names in ALT

#wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

What a lovely creature!