Ogden Water

A couple of days ago we returned to Ogden Water having visited the area for the first time back in April. Our first sighting was this young male Kestrel perched in a conifer overlooking grassland.

The weather was overcast with the odd spot of drizzle & westerly winds so neither of us fancied our chances for butterflies & with not much on the water other than a Cormorant & Black Headed Gulls, we headed into the woods. Just a minute or so into the woodland an array of fungi lay at our feet.

Perhaps this is an Amanita. The first two were taken with flash & have captured the waxy appearance of the cap very well. Could it be a Death Cap? Its a young one, the universal veil and volva clearly visible & evidence of it having recently emerged from the undergrowth.

Cup fungi, ranging from half to twice the size of a 20p piece, growing alongside decaying tree stumps used as path edging.


This one is Fuligo Septica otherwise known by the charming name of Dog vomit slime mould. Charming!

Abundant clusters of Honey Fungus, genus Armillaria on decaying coniferous wood.


Looks like the slugs have had a good go at this cap & stem fungi growing on a coniferous stump.

A couple of examples of bracket fungi poking through moss on a deciduous trunk lying in a damp gulley.

And finally these strange looking clusters growing on a fallen trunk. They are Stemonitis axifera, apparently the most elegant of the slime moulds. Thanks to Midmarsh John for his help with identifying this one.