Each evening thousands of rooks and jackdaws fly over my house on their way to an overnight roosting spot about 3 miles away. Yesterday they flew over just as I was putting the camera into the car and I snapped this shot of some of them:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuFEIWc_Kx3miJ7BJpS2ZqJinzwmQkXa0uSm-olXLFZhp1ZKXEt5MwJGAP1-AZYRsxGmU8LdstkLQuuXOC0CGzZsAJfHdsw8skevj8_BRAVTls5G2LfSOixwWxHvpGy_iUGaU515Bjl4/s1600/corvids-web.jpg) |
Swarm of rooks and jackdaws heading for roost |
I thought then that they could easily be mistaken for a swarm of midges.
As soon as I parked the car at the hedgerow, I looked up and saw a cloud of midges:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIMYgQxD3IDaSx_jHlei9EgJg1PqyGhOZl2NzQ4tH8qR3YhuuyipfAJh60hCYIsNb_1k9bK0LIjqEdLOjDOHnhSUG-yT9rCX5CbzrL5I9CjDsDXEzylaRoaDFRb7yWhsG5jQE6jczazI/s1600/flies-web.jpg) |
Cloud of midges. |
And I thought to myself that they could easily be mistaken for a horde of rooks and jackdaws. It's all a matter of scale.
Halfway along the walk I spotted this scaly mushroom on the rear bank of the ditch:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivp8IMy6hyphenhyphenHu7ZFSwoTIAzBneM4P_3mSmBvh7zRBilRJUg236GSxr-NU97wRQ8lm-l6sLP2i40ibISMChEt_LVkJwzvQE5pl8c1u81fIXBPoEjVGwkvXHxBpyGcKIuMNDQx6a7KWk7ssw/s1600/parasol.jpg) |
Shaggy Parasol - Lepiota rhacodes |
A quick look underneath showed the large double ring and the cream gills:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj11hCT8N0JvVf7RyS9gMaE5_VkYqkmKvv4-lTsp39rQ47J0Saijw3Jtym7v7stwYa4xEp3z9rq5M-aOqJwfZAXDYgOwCztSqUI6X8-i2i6ngX3X3C4kv1jL1v5JUvuiiVaXRcMetbAMUw/s1600/parasol-flash.jpg) |
Shaggy Parasol - Lepiota rhacodes |
I'm making a spore print, but I have no doubt that it's the Shaggy Parasol -
Lepiota rhacodes. Again, it's all a matter of the scales.
The underside of the mushroom was home to dozens of microscopic insects, and I got a decent shot of this Springtail before it ran for cover between the gills:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVplMrVKSP5vqskOk_hiwonzTvr8Wv_0lM-ZUlIilXW3rhIusmvJCjOJW3ftMCs4p2h1K1qqGXLvFrd5mCWgGbV1nrStG-2N58PRDc1Q0xxscKqHAP_v826A-zaWgJ_vv9I9JYusOA3ss/s1600/springtail-web.jpg) |
Springtail |
Scale? The Springtail is about 2mm long.
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