A feast of Fungi

After a couple of days of heavy rain the forest floor is covered in fungi. Here are a few we saw today. I hope I have identified them properly. Many species are very similar and it is easy to confuse the edible with the poisonous. During the autumn many people come to the forest for the fungi. The Forest byelaws allow you to pick for your own use but sadly many fungi collect high prices in restaurants and it is not unusual to see teams of people, especially from the contintent going out and stripping the woods bare. Saddest of all is to arrive in the carparks and find discarded fungi all around. In parts of europe the older folk know their fungi well and often you will find an elderly gentleman sitting in the car waiting for his team of young collectors to come back and he then he sorts through discarding the non edible ones.

A fungal foray

Boletus edulis Penny Bun 

Flowers of tan 

Slimy beechcaps

death cap (Amanita phalloides) 

Trametes vesicolor in America these are called Turkey tails.

cortinarius varius 

Xerocomus badius bay bolete 

Rain Rain Rain

It was very wet on our early morning walk with Karen and Taivas at Fritham this morning. It was drizzling when we left the car at 8am but with i a few minutes the rain got much heavier and we were soon soaked! There was no one else around and so Missy, who is in season was able to play off lead for a little bit. We walked pass some deer sheltering in the trees and neither dog noticed. We were very close but it was raining so heavily we were unable to get a photo. Later as we walked through the woods a large herd with several big stags ran across the path but this time they were too far away for photos. Soon the Deer will start the rut and we will hear their barking as we walk. At times the rain did ease and we were able to get a few photos. We were very wet when we got back to the car but we had enjoyed our walk, it was time to go home and get a shower before changing into dry clothes. For a short while the sun shone but now it is raining again.

It looks a little brighter over there! Fritham. 

This fungus looks a bit battered. 

Taivas is making mud pies. 

Cortinarius varius is apparently very edible. it was very shiny. 

Missy is not amused by Taivas's antics. 

Miss Taivas 

Rain clouds at Fritham 

Baby Moo is watching us 

Mummy cow decides to see us off! 

The sun continues to shine

It was another beautiful day in the forest. This morning we met some very big pigs in the forest foraging for acorns.At this time of year pigs roam the forest often with little piglets eating the acorns to reduce the number left for the ponies who can become very sick if they eat too many.
This afternoon we saw a sweet little calf as we walked . there is always something to see in the forest.

Its pannage season in the forest. Commoners are allowed to let the pigs out to eat the acorns. Eating too many green acorns can make the ponies very sick so each year between September and December pigs can be seen roaming the forest  

This is two toned wood tuft and is apparently edible.......Its real name is Kuehneromyces mutabilis.  

A young Calf is in the trees. 

Missy finds a lost scrunchie 

The view at Canadian Cross 

The heather still has a little colour left although it is dying back. 

Sunbathing.

This little lizard with a stunted tail was sunbathing on a forest gatepost this afternoon. 

Basking in the sun

On a forest gatepost this little lizard (who seems to have lost a little of his tail) was sunbathing until we came past and disturbed him! 

Fungal Foray

We walked at Pigbush this morning and after anight of heavy rain there were puddles everywhere. Whilst we were walking it was warm and sunny still shirt sleeve weather. Now with some rain the fungi are appearing everywhere and we saw several different sorts.

Missy wants to play 

Bracket fungus 

Sparassis crispa common name cauliflower fungus 

Trametes versicolour 

Russula mairei common name beechwood sickener 

The sun was very bright as we walked  

Raffles and Missy 

John and the dogs 

A sunny walk at Fritham this morning.

Today we had a long walk at Fritham with the dogs. It was another lovely sunny day after the heavy rain of yesterday. We walked down to Dockens Water which sadly has very little water in it and we saw several different types of Fungi. We then went into Fritham woods and back out onto the open heathland, by the time we got back to the car it was nearly lunchtime.

Here is Raffles enjoying the Autumnal sunshine. 

This is one of the Boletus group of fungi The reddish stalk suggests it is one of the poisonous ones . I think it looks like a freshly baked cottage loaf. 

This is the bed of Dockens Water it is lacking water! We really need a wet winter to fill the streams back up. 

This Fungus is known as Jelly tongue and it was glistening and shiny its real name is Pseudohydnum gelatinosum. 

The Holly bushes are covered in berries. Folk lore says that a good berry crop is an indication of a hard winter to come. The latest weather forecast is for a dry cold winter! 

John comes up the slope at fritham 

The Path through the woods at Fritham 

These are common earth balls nestling in holly leaves on the forest floor. They are mildly poisonous. 

Magic mushrooms

Magic mushrooms
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

More fun with digital image . its Fungi time of year .

Swirl of autumn leaves

Swirl of autumn leaves
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

A reminder that autumn is here.

Yellow swirly water lily

Yellow swirly water lily
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

More fun with Microsoft digital image suite.

A Long Walk!

This morning I met karen and Taivas in the forest for an early morning walk. We decided to do Walk No8 from the book"Pub Walks in the New Forest" by Diana Smith. The walk is called A step back in time and was 4 miles long.
Well we arrived at Bank the starting point just after 8am,and after about 10 mins we were in the little Hamlet of Gritnam.We spent the next 50 mins trying to find the ford over the stream, finally a local pointed us on the right track and told us that he does this most days in the summer as the ford is long gone. We enjoyed the next hour walking along the banks of the Lymington River ,until we had passed the deer fields (Not a deer to be seen) and arrived at Queens Bower. here our instructions said turn left......a little difficult as the river was on our left, so we continued down to Bolderford bridge where the dogs played in the river. here we met some cyclists with a map and they showed us the cycle track to follow back to Bank. Another hour of steady walking and we finally arrived back at the car at noon
It was a wrm sunny morning and the scenery was beautiful we enjoyed our walk but it was more like 8 miles and the instructions were useless!

The route 

The River Lymington 

Bolderford bridge over the River Lymington 

Misy finds more knickers 

Horse chestnuts in their cases 

Stumped 

A thatched cottage at bank 

water lily

water lily
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

First attempt at selective colouring with Microsoft Digital Image suite.

Another beautiful day.

The sun shone and we had two lovely walks. This morning we went to Busketts and we met Barney. he and Missy have an understanding. Missy loves to run and chase with him as long as he realises she is top dog. This afternoon we walked at Canadian and met some beautiful little calves.

Missy and her boyfriend Barney 

Barney Missy and Raffles at Busketts 

Cows resting at Canadian, 

Two little calves 

Another beautiful little calf. 

A pub lunch and an evening walk.

We took Iain home this morning and stopped to have a pub lunch,the dogs enjoyed the beer!. This evening we went to Ocknell for a walk. Several times we saw deer, and we also passed several groups of cows with calves. Raffles had a fine time chasing the bunnies. By the time we were driving home it was getting dark.

Missy takes her drinking seriously. 

Raffles enjoys his beer as we have a pub lunch. 

A little white calf out on the forest. 

I want my mummmmy! 

A pair of young fallow bucks watch us walk by. 

Stormy skies over the forest this evening. 

Flying Visit to Norfolk

This weekend we went to Old Catton, just outside Norfolk to join in the Faily celebrations as John's Parents celebarated their Diamond Wedding. 60 years of marriage. It is not often that the whole family gets together so this has been a special year as we also celebrated the wedding of their eldest grand daughter Laura, in August.After most of the guests had gone home we joined John's brother and his family for a drink at Horning on the Norfolk broads and watched the sun set along with a heron!

All the guests, The grandchildren and the sons.

 

Diamond Wedding

John's Parents celebrated 60 years of marriage this weekend.
 

A very wet walk at Shatterford

Overnight we had a lot of rain, but when I first got up it had stopped and I thought our walk would be dry! However by the time we got to the car park at Shatterford it was raining again. It wasn't long before we were soaked. It is still warm though and although at times it was hard to see through the raindrops on my glasses, it was still a pleasant walk. The dogs had a wonderful time running through the puddles and then chasing each other through the heather and bracken. Towards the end of our walk the weather cleared up a little but it is raining again now.

Look at the puddles! Is been raining very hard over night. 

Its raining quite hard here. 

By the bridges in the rain! 

Going up through the woods. 

Missy looking so serious! 

Posing. The colours were so pretty, some of the heather is still flowering and the bracken is turning golden 

Missy and Taivas in the heather and bracken 

Miss Taivas  

A baby sand lizard.These Lizards are confined to a fairly small area of England on the Hampshire/Surrey borders ,in the New Forest and the coastal sand dunes of S Lancs.Threats to its habitat has meade it an endangered species. 

Raffles in the stream 

Missy cools down in the stream at S bentley on another sunny september afternoon 

Out and about in the last few days,

A few photos from recent dog walks. The first signs of autumn can be seen as the leaves start to slowly turn colour. Fungi begin to appear on the forest floor.The sun is still shining but the nights are coming early.

The first signs of Autumn. 

A cow bathes in the early autumn sunshine at Busketts 

Fungi.....I wasn't able to identify this one.Deathcap, Destroying Angel or something less poisonous? 

The stream at Busketts 

Spud English Springer Spaniel 

Missy 

bridges at Shatterford 

The woods at Shatterford 

Shatterford 

Gritnam and the Great Woods Of Lyndhurst.

We had another early morning walk today. It was a lovely fresh sunny morning and still warm enough to walk in shirt sleeves.
We decided to follow a walk from the book "The New Forest Companion by Anne-Marie Edwards. I have a note in the book that I walked here on 21/1/1989 . So it has been a long time since I was here and memory would not help me.
We started from the car park at Swan Green and crossed the Cricket Pitch looking for a track through the trees. Well we found a nicce broad track and started up the hill until we met the cross track. We then spent about 15 minutes looking for the track on the left,we eventually decided it was the one straight ahead! We were right and we continued down a slope (seemed quite a gentle slope) We crossed a couple of muddy streams and walked around the edge of Allum House. This was once the home of the Fenwick family wealthy bussiness men who moved to the New Forest in the mid nineteenth century. Here they had a secluded home in the middle of the forest. The railway made travel into London easier for bussiness and at the weekends they could return home for hunting and shooting activities.
After crossing the A35 we entered gritnam woods and eventually arrived at the little hamlet of Gritnam. There were some lovely cottages here, you could walk out your font door and go straight in to the forest.Here we lost the way again and had to backtrack until we stumbled on the out skirts of the little Village of Bank. This is a very pretty village with some thatched cottages scattered among more modern dwellings.
We missed the track down to the A35 and we had to walk a few hundred yards along this busy road before crossing it we found another gate into the forest . Soon we found our original path down the slope. This time we had to go up the slope and it was a lot steeeper and longer than it had seemed on the way down.
However it was not long before we were back at Swan Green, having spent about two and a half hours walking.

The Wrong Path 

Finally on the right path 

Cottages in the small hamlet of Gritnam 

A path through Gritnam woods 

Sharing a stick 

This pretty path is the one Taivas chose but we had to retrace our steps, 

A pretty thatched cottage just outside Bank 

A stack of logs outside a forest cottage. 

Rosy Apples hanging over the fence near Bank. 

The Oak Inn at bank. it used to be called the Royal Oak but its seems to have lost its royal status. 

Smiling Taivas 

The track we have just climbed up its a lot steeper and longer than it looks here. 

Foal and mare near the car park at Swan green 

This pony is covered in flies but they don't seem to be bothering her. 

Swan green from the cricket pitch 

Thatched cottage at Swan Green, but they are near the busy road. 

The A35 going into Lyndhurst always a busy road and long delays build up here in the summer months. 

Passion flower revisited.

I went back and tried to get a better shot. I love these flowers.
 

The Passion flower

I saw this Passion flower tangled up in a hedge tonight.
The Five white petals and the five sepals are said to represnt the 10 faithful apostles (Leaves out Judas who betrayed and Peter who denied)
The purple carolla is the crown of thorns.
Three pistil stigmas the nails
Five stamens the number of wounds

Passion Flower.

Bracket Fungus up in a tree!
 

Sunday afternoon at Canadian Cross

This afternoon was much brighter than this morning. Although it was still overcast it was very warm as we walked, despite a day of rain the stream bed was still dry, but the heather looks so pretty now and the dogs enjoyed running through it. In the distance we saw two fallow deer keeping an eye on us, but the dogs never picked up their scent, so they remained undisturbed
A red admiral butterfly was fluttering around feeding on the heather and although I tried I never managed to catch it with its pretty wings wide open.

This Red Admiral butterfly was feeding on the heather.


 

A couple of fallow deer watch us as we go up the hill. 

Hello Pony 

Coming up the hill at Canadian cross. 

Still plenty of heather about. 

Flowers for the weekend.

It looks like this weekend is going to be wet and windy.....so here are some bright and cheeful flowers.