ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Monday 16 February 2015

HOOVES. (16/02/15)

Yesterday was a write off with storm force winds and heavy rain in the evening. Today there is the slightest of zephyrs and it’s a balmy 4oC. Most of the snow has melted and the Woodpeckers are tapping away. I can find them but as usual I can’t get a picture.

I did find the largest and most prolific crop of Hoof fungus I’ve ever seen.

_MG_2634   Hoof or Tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius. The coin is a 5p and is roughly  3/4“  in diameter.

_MG_2636     Here is another one. There are a good dozen of them all growing close together, I have only seen solitary ones in the past. I met a chap who asked what I’d found and he thought they were Formitopsis pinicola. They could be but the only way to tell is to chemically test them so I’m sticking with Hoof Fungus.

_MG_2637     No snow and a little sunshine. It’s clouded over again now and snow showers are forecast to start again around lunchtime.

Enjoy the week, I’ve not decided whether to stay here or move back to Foyers.

31 comments:

  1. Adrian the fungus is sure a great capture, but i love so much the last pic, really there is in that pic such a great feeling for me, a can smell the air, you become every day better and better.
    ,,, how are you healthy with otitis?

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    1. Laura, it is an area I love. Just to walk everyday cheers me up. The sinusitis is slowly getting better. I will be fine soon.

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  2. Adriaan what a beautiful area it seems to me that there is a good place.

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    1. Bas it is a good place. It's school holidays again so the area is heaving with folk.

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  3. The fungus is cool. Nature really rocks, the way She finds a niche for everything.

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    1. R.Mac this is a very useful fungus as it is used for Canadian hats as well as lighting fires and a blood coagulant.

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  4. Definitely Hoof fungus Adrian, just the job for getting your camp fire going as it smoulders when touched with a flame, hence it's other name...and it's more common in Scotland than the rest of the UK, apparently. F pinicola or Red-belted Bracket has a resin like surface that melts when heat is applied...and it's rare in the British Isles. (best get your matches out and check!)
    How come any of the Hoof fungus that I've found never came with the money bonus?

    It's been grey and cold with a steady drizzle all day here today but the weather guessers are predicting wall to wall sunshine for tomorrow, I'll have to make the effort to get out...maybe?
    Glad to see that you're feeling better now...[;o)

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    1. Trevor, I think we are wrong cos the bloke is a biology teacher. I can't imagine him guessing.

      It is doing well here.

      I am feeling 50% okay so will have a wander up the hill tomorrow if the weather looks anything like.

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    2. Looks like they are growing on Birch?...F pinicola rarely does, it prefers dead conifer wood. Biology teachers...pah!...[;o)

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    3. Yes Trevor dead Silver Birch. There is a small bracket fungus growing on Scots Pine here. I'll take the macro lens out and see if I can find it again.

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    1. Frances yes but they taste very bitter. They have styptic properties but in small doses wouldn't harm you. Apart from lighting fires they are soaked in water, hammered flat and carved into pictures and other things.

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  6. yes Adrian I have seen that fungi here in Northern Ireland. It can be huge. glad you are feeling better. Keep warm.

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    1. Margaret, these are the first I've seen more than a few inches across.

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  7. Interesting finds. It looks springlike there.. greenish and sunny.

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    1. Hilary, we are a long way from spring but it did feel like it yesterday. It's raining now.

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  8. It looks like hoof fungus thrive with rain, snow , wind and cold. The last forest photo looks warm and inviting.

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    1. Red, it was beautiful first thing but gradually deteriorated.

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  9. They really are splendid examples. My brother would have loved to have found those. I could happily lose myself in the last photo though.

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    1. Graham, they are the best I've ever seen even though they were a bit wet. I love wandering this bit of forest.

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  10. Aptly named fungus. I'd like to wander wherever that last photo was taken. Can't even imagine another soul being there.

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    1. Pauline it's heaving with folk here but I don't have to venture far from the beaten track to be alone or almost so.

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  11. Thank you for pausing to observe the impressive hoof fungi. Nature is so wonderful - we all know that - but many would not have paused to notice such mysterious growth.

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    1. YP, it takes me ages to get anywhere. I'm always rooting about in the undergrowth.

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  12. So, they are known as 'Hooves', you learn something everything day. Great photos Adrian.

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    1. Bob, only these ones. The common bracket fungus on Birch is Birch polypore which generally is much flatter and a creamy colour.

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  13. You documented the fungus very well. It is quite impressive.

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    1. John, size wise they are twice as large as any I've seen. They are not particularly rare but never have I seen so many together.

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