A feast of fungi

Wednesday 17th September

It's that time of the year again when summer is officially winding down and there is now a distinct condition change in the air with a damp and humid atmosphere beginning to taking shape. This brings a feast of fungi along with it and what better way to kick off the transition to autumn than with a red cracking bolete or two emerging in the garden today.

There are around 80 species of bolete in the UK - many of them edible, some that will change colour from cream to blue when cut and some that grow a gaudy crimson red or even to the size of a dinner plate. The red cracking bolete (Xerocomellus chrysenteron) gets its common name from the colour change in the cap as it breaks or is nibbled on by molluscs, revealing a thin layer of bright pink to red flesh. They are known for their mycorrhizal connections with beech trees so I am betting that the individuals forming in my garden are the result of a more than successful relationship with my hedgerow. It's a magical time of year and I've recently stumbled upon penny buns, pleated inkcaps, late crops of chicken of the woods, oysters on old maple trees and some perfectly formed fly agaric specimens. 

I'm now waiting in full anticipation for my first waxcap sighting of 2025!

Don't fear the reaper

Monday 25th August

Each year I let the garden lawn go wild, only mowing it once a year and when I say mow, I mean scythe to be precise. The grasses grow tall from spring to the end of summer before I give it a thorough cut and rake, removing all the nutrients from leeching back into the soil to give wildflowers a real chance.

At first I’ll be honest, it was tough going. A thick, never ending sward full of rank grasses like perennial rye and cock’s foot. Four years on it is a different story. The grasses have thinned out dramatically with yellow rattle, common knapweed, yarrow, wild carrot and bird’s-foot trefoil being opportunistic and spreading all over the lawn and the general biodiversity has massively increased. It is now such a quick, easy and fun job to scythe the lawn I am left to wonder why more people aren’t considering the same and ditching the mower.

Low maintenance, incredible for flora diversity, safe for wildlife, no machinery, no fuel and just generally brilliant for the environment. What’s not to love?

Plums and custard

Friday 8th August

For the first time in years I have stumbled upon a small crop of a beautiful looking mushroom decorating the woodland floor today. It is the start of the fruiting season up north for ‘plums and custard’ fungi!

Tricholomopsis rutilans gets its common name from the distinctive purple and egg yolk yellow colours that it unashamedly boasts. I found them sprouting from decaying conifer timber in a mixed woodland block at work. Definitely one I will be keeping an eye out for over the next couple of months. They are certainly eye-catching and make a lovely photo.

Shame they taste nothing like their namesake and are in fact so bitter that they are deemed inedible by many.

The gall on this one

Wednesday 30th July

I can’t quite get over the amount of oak galls I have come across recently, whether it be the silk button variety, marble, cherry or in today’s case - the artichoke gall aka hop gall due to its unusual, but recognisable appearance. Plant galls are abnormal growths produced by the plant in response to the presence of another organism such as fungi or invertebrates. Where the artichoke gall is concerned, a parthenogenetic gall wasp lays a single egg with their ovipositor in a leaf bud, which causes this reaction growth in the tree which in turn houses the wasps larva, which will hatch out in the autumn. Clever stuff, and no harm to the host whatsoever.

2026 is shaping up to be a great year for solitary wasps!

Coastal blues

Thursday 24th July

I have been working on the Durham Heritage Coast today and whilst I had hoped to catch a glimpse of a dolphin or two patrolling the shallow waters, it wasn’t to be. My eyes were drawn away from the sea and to a different azure hue, this time in the form of the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus).

A striking sight, the common blue can be identified from its similar cousin - the holly blue by the orange spots visible on the underside of the wing, which are absent in the holly blue species. The flora of the coastal meadows were looking particularly vibrant in the July sun, boasting a bounty of flowering knapweed, restharrow, carline thistle, field scabious and more. Glorious!

Beamish new beginnings

Tuesday 1st July

While wandering Beamish open-air museum in County Durham today I spotted a ‘flight’ of barn swallows, all of which fledged just yesterday. Five of them sitting in a row were causing quite a stir, catching many a people’s eye as they sat patiently in the sun waiting for the right moment to catch flight and feed.

The swallow (Hirundo rustica) is a summer visitor to the UK, arriving from Northern Africa before it returns later in the year. Unhindered, they will migrate to the exact same spot to breed every year.

Wild pickings

Wednesday 25th June

A walk through Chopwell Woods today brought a lovely seasonal surprise for the taste buds. Not only is it always such a treat to stumble upon wild cherry fruit at this time of the year, but to be given the chance to grab a few before the birds arrive is quite a rare feat! Luckily there were several trees in abundance, with ripening cherries coming through at different stages. Plenty to share with our passerine companions.

Wild cherry (Prunus avium) is one of our two native cherry species and can be differentiated from its relative - the bird cherry (Prunus padus) quite simply by the season in which it bears fruit. Wild cherry tend to produce around June and its cherries on long stalks, are a deep red whereas bird cherry fruits in the autumn, with a black, bitter cherry that hangs in clusters. Leave the bird cherry to the wildlife, but where the wild cherry is concerned, pick away to your heart’s content.

Demoiselles on the river

Friday 6th June

It’s that time of year again where everything has burst into life. The sights and sounds of spring are in full swing and an almost overwhelming spectrum of colour is all around us. The epitome of this could well be what I witnessed at the riverside today.

Tens of banded demoiselle damselflies, both males and females in all their shimmering iridescent majesty, fluttering butterfly-like in the afternoon sun along the slow-flowing water. Banded demoiselles are one of only two UK species with coloured wings. The males with a characteristic dark band and the females who are greener in appearance to the males’ metallic blue, with a brownish tint to their translucent wings. Once a rarity this far north, their range is now expanding. Keep an eye out for them on local streams and rivers this spring and summer. You won’t regret it.

Avian rescue

Wednesday 4th June

Most years at work, we are lucky enough to have a pair of nesting pied wagtails in the old stables building. Last year the pair had two successful broods and seemed completely unperturbed by the constant disturbance from people unknowingly walking directly under the nest. That confidence however, ensured this particular wagtail ended up in a bit of a pickle, before its fortunate and timely rescue.

Thank you to the member of the public who kindly reported the stressed avian, trapped at the upper floor stables window on a hot day. How it managed to get past two closed doors is a bit of a mystery but as I released it from the palm of my hand it was kind enough to show its gratitude by gifting a beautiful, chirruping call is it flew back to the nest.

Orange-tip tag along

Wednesday 28th May

As I was walking through Ebchester Woods today I felt something graze the back of my neck. As I put my hand back there I realised that a male orange-tip butterfly was hitching a ride. A harbinger of spring, this captivating lepidopteran will usually lay a single egg on the underside of the leaf or stem of a cuckoo-flower. If you ever get the chance to look at one through a hand lens, take it from me you won’t regret it. Orange, elongated and reticulated. A thing of intricate beauty.