Look Down, Listen Up

Good advice when wandering in woodland at this time of year. With extensive canopy still in place, seeing birds is less easy [unless you're already looking at them, having heard them], while the fungi are coming out [and are notoriously unlikely to call...]

Ahem.

So, a toddle with the Folks about, er, 'a wood near Dartmoor'. We took coffee and a couple of boxes of baked goods [Fairings and Shortbread.. :) ], so stopped at a now favourite spot to enjoy the trees. We had visitors.

But before we get to that...

Oh, it's going to be one

of those posts....

I hope you're not expecting pretty trees or actual birds, because you're getting NONE of that. Oh no.

Nope, purely fungal photography.

And can you blame me? They're pretty [mostly] and tend to stay put and pose for the camera [of course, sometimes the camera had other ideas, and if I don't notice at the time... :( ], which is very considerate of them.

Not like birds that come powering past and don't even let everyone see them, let alone a Birder of a Backward nature grab, turn on, aim and focus a camera... ::Pouts::

But as I said, we'll get to that.

Er....???

And we start with a toughie. I have no idea with this one, which is just as purple [if not more so] than it appears here. I thought it must be a young purple Bolete, but there aren't any, and it's not right under the 'cap', being more like a Club in shape [compare with next sp. which is a Bolete!]. 

All I can do is go 'Huh?!?' and maybe get to an ID forum.

If I find out, I'll update this.

[If you know, please lend me a Comment!]

Blushing Bolete

Ochre Brittlegill

Alder Scalycap

Hedgehog

Chanterelle

Sulphur Knight

Common Puffball

Beefsteak Fungus

[slightly munched..]

Matt Knight

The Deceiver!

White-laced Shank

So, increasing numbers of funguses, all very good [when I can find out what they are...]

Birds were, as you'd expect for still early in the Autumn, quite thin on the tree. Staying put proved best tactics, as we had passing visitors; notably a couple of Marsh Tits, which moved through overhead. Far briefer but much sexier [well, they are!] was a flypast; downslope from us at maybe 40' distance [so just below eye level]... Goshawk!! 

Juvenile by brownish uppers and heavily streaked unders, and, seeing as my first thought [on seeing a brownish above paler below raptor flying through the trees 15-20' from the ground] was Buzzard, I'd say a female.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

:D

Always a treat.

[And so my reticence on where exactly we were is explained, also why where we stopped is now a favourite!]

Ah, the joys of being in the right place, at the right time [looking the right way..]

And upon this most glad of notes, I shall

Be Seeing You...