Autumn is here

September has come and gone, with endless rain. While this has made more difficult the mammoth non- Old Copse project that has taken up almost 20 months of our time, the wood has enjoyed a good soaking. Even though it's mid October, the leaves are only just beginning to turn and some of the oaks remain stubbornly green.

Our big project  has kept us from doing much in the wood, apart from quick visits to restore our sanity. It really brings home how the wood operates on a different timescale to urban life. There really is no tearing hurry: the wood operates on it's own time frame. The growing season has finished and everything is now slowing down and preparing for winter.

This autumn has been marked by an astonishing crop of fungi - much enjoyed by the West Weald Fungus Identification Group who made their annual visit on October 16th. The purple web caps were the star of the show, and this year are growing in multiple locations. Up by the car park I found over 20 individuals. Full report to follow once Dick Alder has collated their findings.

Purple web cap growing on the ride

Much work remains to be done in the autumn, once time and other commitments permit.

There's still this fallen beech limb to process for firewood - it came down in July

There's work to begin on our planned hazel coppice for dormice

Not to mention more planting - trees to order and arrange to plant in OC2.

Looks like we'll be busy....

Record breaking fungi

On September 16th the West Weald Fungus Identification Group made a return visit to Old Copse. Led by Dick Alder, this expert group found more than 50 species when they visited last year. This time they were particularly interested in seeing if they could find the purple web cap (Cortinarius violaceus) which was the star of the show on Dick's previous visit.

In the previous couple of weeks I'd hunted in vain in all the places where I'd seen Cortinarius last year. But no joy. Luckily the group are well attuned to spotting the most reclusive specimens and found ten individual examples down by the banks of the pond.

Purple webcap Cortinarius violaceus

OK, this one's a bit battered but it's definitely Cortinarius!

In all the group identified 70 different  types of fungi - the most ever found in one visit to Old Copse. We really appreciate having such expert visitors who help us understand more about the ecology of Old Copse. Full list below.

SCIENTIFIC	ENGLISH	SUBSTRATE	ASSOCIATION
Amanita citrina	False Deathcap	Soil	Betula
Amanita citrina var. alba	False Deathcap	Soil	Betula/Pinus
Amanita excelsa var. spissa	Grey Spotted Amanita	Soil	Betula/Pinus
Amanita fulva	Tawny Grisette	Soil	Betula
Amanita muscaria	Fly Agaric	Soil	Betula
Amanita rubescens	Blusher	Soil	Pinus
Annulohypoxylon multiforme	Birch Woodwart	Fallen wood	Betula
Asterophora parasitica	Silky Piggyback	Old fruitbody	Russula nigricans
Baeospora myosura	Conifercone Cap	Cone	Pinus
Boletus badius	Bay Bolete	Soil	Pinus/Quercus
Boletus edulis	Cep	Soil	Quercus
Boletus erythropus	Scarletina Bolete	Soil	Pinus
Clitopilus prunulus	The Miller	Soil
Colletotrichum liliacearum		Dead stem	Hyacinthoides
Coprinopsis atramentaria	Common Inkcap	Soil
Cortinarius violaceus	Violet Webcap	Soil	Betula
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket	Fallen wood	Betula
Fistulina hepatica	Beefsteak Fungus	Trunk	Quercus
Ganoderma australe	Southern Bracket	Log	Betula
Gomphidius roseus	Rosy Spike	Soil	Suillus bovinus
Gymnopilus penetrans	Common Rustgill	Fallen wood	Betula
Gymnopus erythropus	Redleg Toughshank	Litter	Betula
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chantarelle	Litter	Pinus
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft	Fallen wood
Hypomyces chrysospermus	Bolete Mould	Fruitbody	Xerocomellus sp.
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver	Soil
Lactarius blennius	Beech Milkcap	Soil	Fagus
Lactarius chrysorrheus	Yellowdrop Milkcap	Soil	Quercus
Lactarius hepaticus	Liver Milkcap	Soil	Pinus
Lactarius quietus	Oakbug Milkcap	Soil	Quercus
Lactarius sp.		Soil	Fagus, Quercus
Lactarius tabidus	Birch Milkcap	Soil	Betula
Lactarius vietus	Grey Milkcap	Soil	Betula
Laetiporus sulphureus	Chicken of the Woods	Mossy log
Leccinum scabrum	Brown Birch Bolete	Soil	Betula
Lepiota cristata	Stinking Dapperling	Soil
Mensularia radiata	Alder Bracket	Dead standing trunk	Alnus
Mycena inclinata	Clustered Bonnet	Fallen trunk
Paxillus involutus	Brown Rollrim	Soil	Betula
Phacidiostroma multivalve		Fallen leaf	Ilex aquifolium
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore	Fallen trunk	Betula
Pleurotus pulmonarius	Pale Oyster	Log
Pluteus cervinus	Deer Shield	Log	Betula
Pluteus salicinus	Willow Shield	Buried wood
Polyporus ciliatus		Log	Betula
Polyporus leptocephalus	Blackfoot Polypore	Log	Salix
Postia stiptica	Bitter Bracket	Log	Pinus
Psathyrella piluliformis	Common Stump Brittlestem	mossy log
Rhodocollybia maculata	Spotted Toughshank	Soil	Betula
Rhopographus filicinus		Dead stem	Pteridium
Russula aeruginea	Green Brittlegill	Soil	Betula
Russula atropurpurea	Purple Brittlegill	soil	Betula
Russula betularum	Birch Brittlegill	Soil	Betula
Russula claroflava	Yellow Swamp Brittlegill	Soil	Betula
Russula cyanoxantha	Charcoal Burner	Soil	Quercus
Russula densifolia	Crowded Brittlegill	Soil	Betula
Russula laurocerasi		Soil	Quercus/Betula
Russula nigricans	Blackening Brittlegill	Soil	Betula
Russula nobilis	Beechwood Sickener	Soil	Fagus
Russula risigallina	Golden Brittlegill	Soil	Quercus
Russula sardonia	Primrose Brittlegill	Soil	Pinus
Russula subfoetens		Soil	Quercus
Russula velenovskyi	Coral Brittlegill	Soil	Quercus
Sparassis crispa	Cauliflower Fungus	Stump	Pinus
Suillus bovinus	Bovine Bolete	Soil	Pinus
Trochila ilicina	Holly Speckle	Fallen leaf	Ilex aquifolium
Trametes versicolor	Turkeytail	Stump
Trichaptum abietinum	Purplepore Bracket	Fallen trunk	Pinus
Tyromyces chioneus		Log	Deciduous
Xerocomellus cisalpinus		Soil	Quercus/Betula
Xylaria carpophila	Beechmast Candlesnuff	Mast	Fagus

Autumn roundup: late mushrooms, beech trees, Great Egret............

Mushroom foray

The West Weald Fungus Recording Group led by Dick Alder paid us a visit on 16th November. We  thought their chances of finding many specimens were fairly low this late in the season. Mushrooms had been early this year, and particularly abundant during late August to early October.  But we were  wrong.  While too late for ceps or purple web caps, the group still managed to find 55 different species, which was a surprise to us, though not to the expert visitors.

Ling and Mark, enjoying their introduction to Autumn fungus in Old Copse.

Growing our own

After planting out the best of the home grown oaks in the wood, there were still 30 or so that were  too small. Some of them were getting a bit pot-bound  so a  raised bed in the wood,  well protected from deer, seemed like a good idea. In deeper soil they'll have room to stretch out and start growing properly in the Spring.

Rare visitor

One of the mushroom group arrived early and was lucky enough to see a visiting Great Egret at this spot

We didn't see him, but here's a library picture of what we missed (credit RSPB)

Autumn photos

Old Copse is beautiful at this time of the year. The beech trees really stand out.

A decaying birch stump. First comes the moss, then the fungus.

Autumn fungi come early

Cortinarius violaceus - purple webcap (rare)

It's been a strange season for fungi. The summer fungi were very late - appearing only momentarily - yet the autumn fungi are everywhere, and we're only in the third week of August.

These purple webcaps were found growing on the east side of the pond, just up from the fishermen's bridge, so they're not strictly within our boundaries. However it's good to see this rare species making an appearance again. They don't seem to appear in the same spot twice. These ones are over 200m away from where last year's specimens popped up. The only similarities I have noticed is that they seem to grow in proximity to birch, and are more likely to grow near a path or near the edge of the wood where there is less shade.

Russula delica

These russula are typical of the many currently showing in the wood. These were found right at the roadside fence , growing through the leaf litter . Now these ones do come up in the same spot every year. They are very noticeable due to their size and the sheer force with which they push their way out of the ground, heaving aside the pine needles.

Amanita fulva - Tawny Grisette

Several members of the Amanita family are common in the wood - Amanita rubescens, Amanita muscaria (fly agaric), Amanita citrina (false death cap) Amanita excelsa and Amanita fulva (the tawny grisette) pictured above. They are all reasonably easy to identify as Amanita, due to their egg like appearance when young and that they often have a bag like 'Volvo' at the bottom of their stem. Distinguishing between different members of the family is more difficult, especially between pantherina and excelsa, which are both basically brownish mushrooms with spots. The grisettes are still the same family, but have a cleaner appearance, with a smooth stem. They are supposed to be edible, but I don't expect they taste of much. The picture above shows both the young and the fully grown specimen. There is a useful Amanita key here.

Crepodotis mollis - soft slipper toadstool

Finally, this one is a new one for me. Soft, damp and curly, the brittle fungus grows on decaying wood. The photo shows one which was part of a group growing on a dead rowan tree lying on the ground.  Crepodotis mollis - its common name is the soft slipper toadstool, which I can't quite see, but it was definitely soft to the touch.

Mushroom season

 October marks the height of the mushroom season, and this year has been a particularly good year, even if the season is later than usual - presumably a knock on effect of the late wet Spring.

On Sunday 16th October, just over a year since their last visit on September 20th 2015, (see blog post) the Runnymede Ramblers made a return visit for a fungi walk. The foray was led by Dick Alder of the West Weald Fungus Recording Group. The star find of the day was the Purple Webcap  - Cortinarius Violaceus - a rare mushroom which has apparently never previously been found in West Sussex. The nearest known colonies are in the New Forest. In addition to the ones pictured in the previous post, we found a further specimen on the banks of the pond, and the group found another pair in the neighbouring wood. A sample has been sent to Kew, where it will be part of a project on DNA sequencing on the Cortinarius family.

Dick Alder's full list of Sunday's finds is shown at the end of this post and has been shared with the Sussex Biological Records office.

In addition to that list, over the past few days we have also found:

Black bulgar or Batchelor's Buttons - Bulgaria Inquinans

BB growing on dead oakwood

Aleuria arantia

List of fungi finds made 16th October Old Copse:

SCIENTIFIC	ENGLISH
Amanita citrina	False Death Cap
Amanita citrina var. alba	False Death Cap, white
Amanita excelsa var. spissa	Grey Spotted Amanita
Amanita muscaria	Fly Agaric
Amanita rubescens	Blusher
Amanita porphyria	Grey Veiled Amanita
Boletus badius	Bay Bolete
Boletus edulis	Cep
Cantharellus tubaeformis	Trumpet Chanterelle
Clitopilus prunulus	Miller
Coprinopsis atramentaria	Common Inkcap
Cortinarius violaceus	Violet Webcap
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket
Entoloma nitidum	a Pinkgill
Gomphidius roseus	Rosy Spike
Gymnopilus junonius	Spectacular Rustgill
Gymnopilus penetrans	Common Rustgill
Hydnum repandum	Wood Hedgehog
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chantarelle
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
Lactarius blennius	Beech Milkcap
Lactarius chrysorrheus	Yellowdrop Milkcap
Lactarius deliciosus	Saffron Milkcap
Lactarius hepaticus	Liver Milkcap
Lactarius rufus	Rufous Milkcap
Lactarius tabidus	Birch Milkcap
Leccinum scabrum	Brown Birch Bolete
Leccinum variicolor	Mottled Bolete
Naucoria escharioides	Ochre Aldercap
Paxillus involutus	Brown Rollrim
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore
Russula atropurpurea	Purple Brittlegill
Russula claroflava	Yellow Swamp Brittlegill
Russula densifolia	Crowded Brittlegill
Russula nigricans	Blackening Brittlegill
Russula nitida	Purple Swamp Brittlegill
Russula nobilis	Beechwood Sickener
Russula ochroleuca	Ochre Brittlegill
Russula sardonia	Primrose Brittlegill
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball
Suillus bovinus	Bovine Bolete