Thursday 15 November 2012

Velvety Fungi

I read a post recently on Mark's Veg Plot blog titled My insect hotel. It was all about creating a habitat in the garden for insects. I have a very small pond in my garden, and at the side of the pond, amongst the plants, I have a couple of pieces of old wood which is slowly rotting down. Insects and creepy crawlies love this type of habitat, so this is why it's there. Reading Mark's post prompted me to have a look at the wood when I was pottering in the garden this morning. On it, I noticed some unusual fungi, I haven't come across anything like this before. It's brown, and looks velvety, though I don't know if it's velvety to the touch, I didn't go that far. It's almost bubble like, but if you look at it from the back, it's hollow. I don't know much about fungi at all, but I'm fascinated with all the different types.

The grass didn't get cut at the weekend as I'd hoped it would, nor have I done any more digging over of the allotment yet. Although we haven't had much rain this week, the ground just doesn't seem to be drying out. The atmosphere seems to be damp at the moment, so perhaps this has something to do with it. I'm hoping that the rain stays away for the rest of the week, then I'll have at least some chance of getting on with these jobs at the weekend.

I've noticed that my little robin red breast is around again. He seems to go off for periods of time, but then returns, assuming it's the same robin. Whilst walking Archie this morning, I saw a few robins, they're such inquisitive little birds and don't show much fear. They allowed me within touching distance before they flew away. I must remember to put some mealworms out, that might tempt him to hang around.

19 comments:

  1. That is a weird looking fungus - I think this year has to be year of the fungi!

    I once had a robin sitting feeding from my hand until someone passing by shouted "OOh look at that robin sitting on that woman's hand!" Needless to say it took off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's loads of fungi about this year, lots of things I haven't seen before. How wonderful to have a robin feeding from your hand, I would love that. A shame he was disturbed.

      Delete
  2. I think that might be the one called "Jew's Ear" - Auricularia auricula-judae.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auricularia_auricula-judae.
    Thanks for the link, Jo. It's good to see that you're interested in fungi too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fantastic. Thank you for that ID, I'm sure you're right. As soon as I'd taken the photos I said that it looked like the inside of an ear from the other side, but I couldn't find anything which looked similar what I scoured the web.

      Delete
  3. Jo, have a look here if you would like another photo to confirm Mark's id:

    http://greentapestry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/earear.html

    This was growing in my garden a couple of years ago. Most spooky but very interesting. I touched it but made sure I gave my hands a thorough wash afterwards. We usually have a resident robin or two - ours certainly enjoy mealworms :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's definitely the one. I'd commented on that post too but didn't make the connection with the fungi in my garden. The only problem with putting mealworms out for the robins is that the starlings usually get to them first.

      Delete
  4. A very weird looking fungus, it looks so silky smooth, great that someone has identified it for you.
    My grass is absolutely saturated this year, never known it to be like that before. I won't be cutting mine till next spring I don't think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still haven't got round to cutting the grass, overnight rain on Friday has seen to it that it remains sodden this weekend. I don't think the atmosphere is helping either, it seems so damp all the time at the moment.

      Delete
  5. Hello Jo, I've heard about insect hotels before, but never actually created one. Love your fungus. Oh, how I miss the little robin redbreast! P. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen some great examples of insect hotels, but have never made one myself. I do have lots of different habitats around the garden for insects though. I do love robins, such cheeky little birds.

      Delete
  6. Seeing that reminds me that I must look at my log pile to see if there's any fungi. It's certainly a fascinating subject about which I know almost nothing.
    I haven't seen much of the plot robin lately but nearly always hear it nearby. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm the same, I love to see the many different types of fungi, but know absolutely nothing about it. I'm sure your robin will stay near to the plot, especially when he knows there's plenty of digging going on, a guaranteed meal.

      Delete
  7. Loving that unusual fungi. At first it looked like something under a microscope. Some sort of bacteria. The birds have started to pop up in our garden too. I noticed a black cap the other day which is a pretty rare visitor. It is one of the delights of winter being able to watch the birds from my kitchen window.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love all the different types of fungi, there really are some weird and wonderful ones. Lucky you seeing a black cap, that's something I've never spotted. I bird watch from the comfort of my armchair all through the winter months.

      Delete
  8. We have resident robins which are just coming back to the garden for food too although I have to say with quite a few berries about the feeders aren't going down really quickly at the moment.

    I too love fungi and I am fascinated about all the different types but I have no idea how to identify it...maybe I should look into getting a book or something?!?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's so many berries out at the moment. It's the blackbird who seems to relish them all in my garden. It's amazing how many different types of fungi there are.

      Delete
  9. very nice blog, Thanks for sharing,

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes your fungi looks a bit like Jews ear to me funny looking and quite comical, edible but I've never tried it. Not an expert so I wouldn't give it a go unless your 100 % positive

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pretty sure it's Jews Ear. I wouldn't dare eat any fungi on my own identification, they can be deadly.

      Delete

 
!-- Start of StatCounter Code for Blogger / Blogspot -->