18th October 2009
Having promised to speak to pupils in the junior school, this week, on the subject of “What to Watch for in Autumn,” I visited the Barnsley Canal yesterday to collect one or two fungi. Some of the fungi to be seen there have passed their best but there were still a number of large Fly Agarics, one of which is shown below. The cap on this specimen was 16 cm wide.
I found a large Bolete, also growing beneath silver birch, which had a dark brown cap. The cap was slimy, about 14 cm wide and quite flat. I can’t settle on an identification for this one, mainly because the dark colour doesn’t seem to match the colours described in my books for the species to be expected beneath birch, and with the same stem and cap forms.
Also pictured below is a milk-
Two notable sightings during the past week have been of buzzards. These birds might be a common sight to people in large parts of Britain, particularly in the west, but they are not seen often in my area. Until recently, it was possible for many months to pass without any sight of this species near my home. However, I saw three birds soaring above Ackworth during the summer and have now had these two sightings within a week.
I know that buzzards now nest at Nostell, which is only a few miles from Hemsworth, so I have been expecting to see the species more often than in the past.