






This one flew away after one shot but I noticed it had only flown from a Tansy flower head to a leaf a foot away. It’s a Mirid bug. I am reasonably sure it’s a Tarnished Plant Bug; Lugus rugulipennis.

The weekend has dawned hot and sunny and the wind has blown away somewhere else.Yesterday I found a beautiful fungus but I can’t identify it with certainty.
It was this large and almost perfect specimen I found lurking behind a fallen pine. I am almost sure they are Velvet Roll Rims; Tapinella atrotomentosa. They used to be Paxillus sp. but just to add confusion they have been reclassified. The only doubt I have is that the gills don’t seem dark enough. I didn’t want to trash this older one to check and grovel as low as I could I failed to see the gills on it.
I do know what this is, it’s Rose Bay Willowherb or Fireweed.
Have a great weekend.
Monday evening just as I was finishing tea a large tractor pulled into the yard. It had only come to fetch the dumper but it was impressive. It would have taken me all on to climb into the cab. I’d have needed some soothing music and a recuperative nap when I got there.
It is smaller than the combine but still an impressive machine.
This morning I took a couple of flower pictures.
COMMON KNAPWEED
Thank you Keith
I now don’t need to guess which one. I used to think they were non prickly thistles but I am not that daft these days.
SELFHEAL.
I then wandered into the forest.
I decided to walk anti clockwise this morning and not twenty yards from the path I noticed this strange fungus. I’m not sure what it is as it seemed to be growing on a pine stump.
It is quite large at over a foot across and I think it is Chicken of the Woods; Laetiporus sulphureus.
It isn’t it’s Dyers Maizegill, Phaeolus schweinitzii. Many thanks Trevor.
I have seen this once before but I'm sure it was growing on Oak. This was a bit slimy so even if it is Chicken of the Woods I wouldn’t fancy eating it.
Could it settle down with a top or front view? Not a hope.
It is a wild and windy morning but last nights rain has departed east so we enjoyed a relatively dry walk. It looks dismal but as I write this the sun is shining so it may be a reasonable day.
As has become standard practice I checked the Stinkhorns and had a pleasant surprise.
This is the one I have been waiting for but it is still much the same. Not one foot away a perfect specimen has grown and I never realised it was there.
Was it worth the wait? Yes I think so they aren’t rare but as they only last such a short time they are quite exciting. Two more fungi today.
This is Slippery Jack; Suillus luteus. These are edible and I did try them last year but you ought to remove the orange slimy covering. They are not really worth the bother but I may pick, prepare and try drying some for popping in stews.
The last one has me baffled. It’s growing on a Beech tree and a fine specimen. I am almost sure it isn’t Beech Bracket.
That's all for today, enjoy your week.
I went out at dusk to check on the Stinkhorns and nothing was happening. This morning the oldest one had grown but minus it’s smelly end, Shite. There is still one more to fruit and I am so convinced it will be perfect that first thing tomorrow I’m away up there with LED lights and a tripod for a bit of video. If the last one fails I still have another site which isn’t showing signs of anything yet. I’m weird but I love taking pictures of tiny insects and fungi.
The Sycamore aphids were the highlight of this summer closely followed by the Lacewing. Not really a highlight but it’s something I’ll never forget was spending several hours trying to re-fit the bracing arm under the combine, two of us tried it every which way and every other way for hours; it wasn’t in jacking distance of lining up, it only had two end plates and was a straight bit of square tube. I woke up, went down presented it and all the seven holes were aligned perfectly with the new axle and the combine chassis. That is akin to feeding folk fishes and bread. I did wonder if I should try water walking but after a seconds deliberation decided one was enough. The trouble that bastard caused. I know it was only this week but I’m still happy with the shots of the lacewing.
That’s about it for today I spent the morning helping to sort the brush buster deck out. It hit a big rock the other day and discombobulated itself. The spinner is away for some serious attention and brush busting will resume drektly….Drektly is a lovely South West of England expression which means as soon as he, she, me, it can be arsed. We got the combine out of the shed and after all the gearbox and other refurbishments it seems fine bar a bit of a TIG welded patch on the discharge auger elbow; no more than a couple of hours work and while the TIG welder and gas are here we can do some bits on the new grain dryers auger tubes.
I am gearing up for a harvest video. I like my Adrian's Images Logo thingy running as an Alpha Channel and will keep it but keep it shorter. It’s the one with an ‘A’ and an ‘I’ that split, spin around and subtly refract the background image…Oxford level compositing. I’ll have to do it again as I know it is saved but where. Not only where but what as. Quicker to do it again. I may even do it better as practise is everything with image adulteration.
Have a good weekend. Sorry about the formatting it’s gone all belly up and I have to guess. Formatting now fine but still guess work.