For various recent life-changing reasons I haven't been at Cranford Park for many weeks but as soon as I walked in the park this morning I felt a lot of my stresses melt away.
Cranford Park has been a big part of my life for many years, and today it felt a bit like I had arrived 'home' and was back in my 'comfort zone'. It was wonderful to bump into some old faces, but a shame that I missed Martyn. It's his birthday on the 14th so I left his pressie in his usual place.
I missed the start of the fungi season so don't know if the phallic Stinkhorn fruited this year. I checked the two previous locations that I had seen it before but saw no sign, nor detected no smell, of them.
The recent wet weather meant there were plenty more fungi species to find though....
The first up is the Purple Brittlegrill - russula atropurpurea - I see these most years in the same place in the Memorial garden behind the church. I would very much advise not to pick and eat these though as they look very much like the 'Sickener', which is named for obvious reasons....
Cranford Woods has always been a very good place to find the Upright Coral - ramaria stricta. It grows on dead and decaying deciduous and coniferous trees. Some years in the woods it is more prolific than in others, and although I found quite a few today I have seen more in previous seasons. It is perfectly safe to eat but does have a very bitter flavour which puts a lot of people off.
The aptly named Jelly Ear - auricalaria sp. - is also very common and is usually found growing on upright living trees rather than on the woodland floor. This is also edible but apparently goes crispy when cooked, which somewhat puts me off a little...….
The tiny Yellow Stagshorn - calocera viscosa - grows on decaying conifer wood. The 'stalks' divide as they grow, giving the fungi an antler appearance and hence the name...
Candlesnuff - xylaria hypoxylon - is one of the most commonly found fungi. It is small like the Stagshorn, and therefore not really worth eating, but this little fungi is present all year round, During the spring the 'stalks' are almost completely black and often remain unnoticed....
One of my favourites is the Puffball family. I have never seen Giant Puffball at Cranford Park, but I do see these beauties - Stump Puffball - lycoperdon pyriforme. This is the only species of puffball that grows on wood. As they mature a hole appears at the top, and if you tap it gently you can see the spores being released. The ones I found today are too young, otherwise I would have attempted to get a video clip of the spores dispersal....
This is another species that I would advise against eating as they can be confused with young Deathcaps….
There were plenty of other fungi species at the park but if I stopped to take a photo of every one I'd still be there now !
Along with the fungi, the park and the woods were brimming with nature....
The Grey Squirrels were busy 'squirreling'....
The 'old mans beard' was smothering the fence around the old cellars....
I found five Coal Tits in the evergreens in St Dunstans, and managed to grab one photo showing the distinctive white stripe at the back of its head....
The very shy and elusive resident Little Egret was down by the M4 viaduct. I watched it fly down from one of the nearby trees, then hid myself behind another before it bravely ventured out.....
But the appearance of a jogger spooked the bird and it flew off towards the airport.
Other birds seen but not photographed included two Common Buzzard, one Red Kite, one Little Owl that dived undercover as soon as I lifted my camera lens, one Kestrel, one Grey Wagtail, a nice sized roving tit flock that included at least ten Long-taileds and a fleeting glimpse of a Kingfisher as it flew under the viaduct.
A thoroughly enjoyable few hours visit to a place that has the ability to calm and soothe me at the same time. Next time I will not leave it so long.
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