Foray to Ards

Given the success of my Drumboe foray, I took a trip to Ards just in case there was something early there, too. Within the first minute we had found plenty of Chanterelles in the usual place near the car park, and then I glanced up the forest path and immediately recognised the Destroying Angel - Amanita virosa:

Amanita virosa - Destroying Angel

Amanita virosa produces the same toxin as the Death Cap: this causes death by multiple organ failure within 72 hours. Something had chewed the right-hand side of the cap, destroying the symmetry of the image, but it will serve its purpose. Growing under Beech.

New to my species list (although I had seen destroyed specimens in previous years).

The next part of the foray was through mature mixed woodland, where many of the Conifers have been harvested, leaving plenty of open areas with some logs left behind to enhance the habitat. I spotted a couple of very fresh Russulas at the base of one of the stumps:

Russula velenovskyi

I had a great deal of trouble identifying this specimen when taking it through Geoff Kibby's excellent new key, with no decent match turning up. After a couple of days, however, I noticed that the stipe had developed a pink tinge at the base and that led me quite quickly to Russula velenovskyi. Key characters (in my specimen) are: blood-red cap with umbo, peeling 60%, cream gills and spores, mild taste and smell, pale pink suffusion to base of stipe. Habitat is said to be mixed woodland, and there were plenty of Beech trees nearby.

New to my species list

The next notable species was a bracket - which I hadn't seen before - on a dead deciduous branch:

Crepidotus mollis: top and underside

Thinking it was something special, I took a specimen back with me and made a spore print. It turned out to be Crepidotus mollis, which is very common and widespread, so I have no idea why I hadn't seen it before.

New to my species list

A couple of red waxcaps caught my eye: I noticed they had very sticky (viscid) caps:

Hygrocybe mucronella

Waxcaps are usually associated with grassland, but I find quite a few on bare soil under trees.

New to my species list

Many of the expected Ards fungi were not yet obvious, although I did spot a little patch of the exceedingly rare Phellodon melaleucus in its usual spot:

Phellodon melaleucus

This has clearly just emerged, and is paler than the long-lived mature caps will be later in the year.

Ramaria stricta was also very fresh-looking:

Ramaria stricta

Whilst Ards contains this ancient forest, it also has a coastal fringe on three sides, so we took a look there to see what was around. Just as we arrived the sun came out, so we were soon surrounded by insects of all types foraging, flying and just sunbathing. I'll keep that for tomorrow.

Ards at last

With the fungal season being well under way, I have been waiting for a gap in the rain to go to Ards. Everything came together on Sunday, so off I went with a smile and an empty memory card in my camera.

Ards forest is an ancient mixed woodland on the west coast of Donegal. First landfall from the Atlantic and the ancient trees combine to form a perfect environment for fungi (and lichens), and it never fails to deliver something interesting.

In no particular order we have:

A tiny pair (3 cm. tall) of Snowy Waxcap, Hygrocybe nivea:

Snowy Waxcap

At the other end of the scale, a huge (20 cm.diameter) Cortinarius purpurascens, which formed part of a large ring:

Cortinarius purpurascens

In the deepest and darkest part of the forest - in what was the quarry that sourced the stone for the nearby monastery - a fresh example of the wonderful Polyporus badius:

Polyporus badius

At 4 cm. across the cap, it's hard to believe that this fine little cup is closely related to Polyporus squammosus, the Dryad's Saddle, which can reach almost 1 metre across.

New to me, and a first record for Co. Donegal of Humaria hemisphaerica. There are a couple of previous records from Ireland:

Humaria hemisphaerica

The inside surface (which is the spore-bearing surface) looks almost like porcelain.

I'm always glad to see the extremely rare Phellodon melaleucus in its usual location. This fungus has a strong smell of fenugreek when dry:

Phellodon melaleucus

Ards is one of very few places that I have found the Death Cap - Amanita phalloides:

Amanita phalloides - Death Cap

As its name suggests, the Death Cap is deadly poisonous: if you consume any part of this fungus, death will follow - within 72 hours - from liver and kidney failure. There is no cure.

A couple of Entoloma sp. (identification still under way):

Entoloma sp.

Entoloma sp.

There are hundreds of Entoloma species, and separation usually involves microscopic analysis. They are readily recognisable due to their radially-striped caps and finely-constructed gills, which are often lined with the cap colour:

Entoloma sp. gill edges

Their spore print is pink and the spores have a very unusual and distinctive shape:

Entoloma spores at x 400

The Amethyst Deceiver must be one of our most recognisable fungi: 

Amethyst Deceiver

The name 'Amethyst Deceiver' comes from the closely-related Deceiver, which varies so much in colour that it closely resembles many other fungi. No such problem with the Amethyst version.

This Cortinarius has been giving me a bit of bother. I think it might be Cortinarius semisanguineus. Identification awaiting confirmation.

Cortinarius ?semisanguineus

Here's a shot of a young specimen:

Cortinarius ?semisanguineus

Tiny Marasmius rotula specimens were dotted all over dead twigs, looking like little gems in the darkness:

Marasmius rotula

The coral-like Ramaria stricta forms large specimens grouped together to cover large areas of ground under Beech and Spruce:

Ramaria stricta

Whilst walking along the beach, I spotted this excellent shot of the patterns of sand left by the tide. The light was dropping, making this shot look monochrome, but it's in full colour.

Sand patterns on the beach

The pattern reminded me of the Entoloma gills shown earlier in the page, and both will probably be gone by tomorrow, never to return.

Announcement

I'm taking this opportunity to announce the launch of my new food-related blog over on www.donegal-dinner.blogspot.com. If you like food and cooking, then you might find a visit worthwhile.