Friday 29th.August 2008

Following on from yesterday's post , I called in at High Elms Country Park on my way home . The weather was still overcast , but with the odd threat of sun . When I reached Burnt Gorse , the first insect I saw was a female Silver Washed Fritillary . Really faded now , but incredible to think that , given another week , this species will have been on the wing for three months , the first one I recorded was on 3rd.July . Remembering that this is not a hibernating species , eggs layed this Summer will hatch out and the caterpillars will overwinter as such , feeding on in the Spring , before forming a chrysalis next June , before emerging as adults . In all , I found 3 SWF , all female , and one of them was still ovipositing . Given the weather forecast for Sunday and early next week , this could well be the last of ' the flight of 2008 ' .

More expected to be seen , was a fresh looking Small Copper . With kind weather , they could well be seen into October . Another fresh individual , was this Red Admiral , feeding on the Hemp Agrimony , that was the favourite of the White Letter Hairstreaks , who seem to have finished now . In all , I recorded 10 species - Large White (1) , Small White (2) , Green Veined White (1) , Small Copper (1) , Brown Argus (4) , Common Blue (10) , Red Admiral (2) , Silver Washed Fritillary (3) , Speckled Wood (2) and Meadow Brown (7) .

If as I think , the WLH have finished , I feel more positive for next year , than I did at this time last year . Fingers crossed .

A few fungi caught my eye whilst walking , including a member of the Myxomycetes family - Slime moulds . This one is quite colourful and very soft as you would imagine with a slime mould . It is Tubifera ferruginosa , and what I have found in the past , is that if you go back the next day , they have finished and disappeared . Very embarassing if you have taken someone there to show them , as happened with me once . By the Golf Course , following the purple coloured Russula of the other day , was this greeny specimen , Russula cyanoxantha-The Charcoal Burner , what a great name .

Appearing more and more now are the Boletus family . From above , they look pretty much like other fungi that you come across , but from below , the gills that are found on the likes of Field Mushrooms , which contain the spores , are replaced by pores or tubes , which hold and disperse the spores . This one was Boletus badius-Bay Boletus . Heading back to the car , at the kissing gate , was this stand of Coprinus atramentarius-Common Ink Cap .

I did manage to get out for a while today , and spent it up on Keston Common , one of the three named Commons which adjoin each other , the others being Hayes and West Wickham , but I tend to refer to the whole area as the 'Common' . Very quiet for everything that moves , but found some other colourful fungi .

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca-False Chanterelle .

Coltricia perennis .Laccaria amethystea-Amethyst Deceiver , another great name .

Amanita fulva-Tawny Grisette .
Amanita vaginata-Grisette , not the best specimen , but the best I could find .