Hallo folks. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just went for a stroll, as I often do in the Northern Chilterns... since I'm on here, I'd thought I'd share a day with you. Went out Yesterday, lovely day it was.
Steps Hill in the fore-ground, Ivinghoe Beacon in the back-ground.
Half way up Steps Hill.
Panoramic view of the Northern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, from the top of Steps Hill.
Came across this old Oak, on the Bough extending out horizontal to the right of the main bole, I noticed one of these quirks of nature that always makes me smile... I hope you can pick it up on the next picture.
If you look close on the Bough hopefully you can discern a Fern & a Bramble taking root on the Bough. I like this curiosity, I see it often on old Oak.
These Hills are swathed in Flint, so I'd thought I'd stock up a couple of more pieces.
Primroses are out in force...
Plenty of Lesser Celandine are there to be had also, so I picked some of these.
Clocked this gregarious bunch of Southern Brackets in the base of a fallen Ash ( Ganoderma Australe). For those that don't know you can source a tinder from these... basically a substitute for the Amadou taken from Hoof Fungus ( Fomes Fomentarius). So I had one of these.
Beech tree doing what a Beech tree does... it's damnable best not to look like an average Beech tree.
Time for a Brew & a bite on me Pork Pie, sitting back on this horizontal Holly.
Kids've made a Den at the bottom of this Beech.
A vista..
Some views of the woodland...
Was walking through the woodland, and in the distance I clocked a Birch with Brackets covering it... thought I might be in luck for some fresh Birch Polypore ( piptoporus betulinas ), but no... they were old and weather beaten.
I did though walk upon this magnificent beast of a tree... which was covered in Brackets.... as follows.
young fruiting bodies of Artist's Bracket (Ganoderma Aplanatum), never seen an artist's bracket this young before, so was happy to see it. Hopefully you can see where the new fruit body is growing from the remnants of the old bracket, which incidentally was laying on the floor underneath.
On the other side of the tree, there were more mature fruiting bodies... of what I am sure are Artist's Bracket.. they're still fairly young, and do not have the distinctive white underside you can draw on... I have taken a bracket to have a closer look. There was one more just above this one... in the next photo.
I'll finish off with a carpet of Snowdrops I walked upon...
Cheers. All the best.
Steps Hill in the fore-ground, Ivinghoe Beacon in the back-ground. Half way up Steps Hill. Panoramic view of the Northern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, from the top of Steps Hill. Came across this old Oak, on the Bough extending out horizontal to the right of the main bole, I noticed one of these quirks of nature that always makes me smile... I hope you can pick it up on the next picture. If you look close on the Bough hopefully you can discern a Fern & a Bramble taking root on the Bough. I like this curiosity, I see it often on old Oak. These Hills are swathed in Flint, so I'd thought I'd stock up a couple of more pieces. Primroses are out in force... Plenty of Lesser Celandine are there to be had also, so I picked some of these. Clocked this gregarious bunch of Southern Brackets in the base of a fallen Ash ( Ganoderma Australe). For those that don't know you can source a tinder from these... basically a substitute for the Amadou taken from Hoof Fungus ( Fomes Fomentarius). So I had one of these. Beech tree doing what a Beech tree does... it's damnable best not to look like an average Beech tree. Time for a Brew & a bite on me Pork Pie, sitting back on this horizontal Holly. Kids've made a Den at the bottom of this Beech. A vista.. Some views of the woodland... Was walking through the woodland, and in the distance I clocked a Birch with Brackets covering it... thought I might be in luck for some fresh Birch Polypore ( piptoporus betulinas ), but no... they were old and weather beaten. I did though walk upon this magnificent beast of a tree... which was covered in Brackets.... as follows. young fruiting bodies of Artist's Bracket (Ganoderma Aplanatum), never seen an artist's bracket this young before, so was happy to see it. Hopefully you can see where the new fruit body is growing from the remnants of the old bracket, which incidentally was laying on the floor underneath. On the other side of the tree, there were more mature fruiting bodies... of what I am sure are Artist's Bracket.. they're still fairly young, and do not have the distinctive white underside you can draw on... I have taken a bracket to have a closer look. There was one more just above this one... in the next photo. I'll finish off with a carpet of Snowdrops I walked upon...Cheers. All the best.
