above water level , and a single male , looking rather dishevelled , on his own in the open water . It wasn't long before all was explained , as I had arrived whilst he was in the middle of his 
morning ablutions . Taking no notice of me , he continued , watched by the other two 'Ms' on the pond , Moorhens and Mallard types . I'm sure that sometimes they moved close to him to get 
their morning shower . He finished off with a 'walking on water moment' , as he seemed to stand on the surface , and with a good flap and a shake , got rid of all the surplus water . I did get a shot of it , but he was so active , it came out very blurred .The middle pond was devoid of any birds , not even the Grey Wagtail , and the top pond held just 2 Moorhen . In fact , very little bird call was heard at all , except for Nuthatch , Great Spotted Woodpecker , a few Corvids and a few Tits . So I headed off looking for fungi , and soon came across what would have been a really good sized Amanita muscaria-Fly Agaric , but someone/thing , had smashed it into three pieces . 
Almost alongside , was another , just having emerged , but already having been a snack for something . The white sack , that all members of this family emerge from , can be seen clearly in the ground . My next find was a member of the Boletus family , but as yet , I'm not sure which
one . As can be seen by the photographs , the stem was as wide as the cap , and on site , I thought it might be Satan's Boletus-Boletus satanas , but on checking up from the reference
book at home , it is too late in the year for that particular specimen , I shall keep looking . In all , I found four specimens of the fungi , all had been kicked/pulled from the ground .On previous posts , I have shown Laccaria amethystea-Amethyst Deceiver , and this is another
of the same family , L. laccata-Deceiver . It gets it's name , as it is very variable in appearance , and therefore difficult to recognise at first sight . On the open grassland area , above the ponds , 
I found Clavulinopsis fusiformis-Golden Spindles , I like it when they look like their common 
name , and close by , under Beech , Russula atropurpurea-Blackish-purple Russula .The water from the bottom pond runs off to form the start of the River Ravensbourne , so called I believe , as when the Romans made their camp nearby , Ravens were seen to drink from the small stream . I followed the flow downstream for a short way , passing several small waterfalls ,
some , like this one , man made , and others formed by tree roots and the like . On the
bank sides , in the shaded areas , I found Liverworts , one of the lowest classes of vegetation .
1 comment:
Great post, Greenie.
That bolete`s a chunky looking species.
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