NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Canons Farm on a still, clear morning. Little was passing overhead and if truth be told the four hours that I spent meandering across the fields and along the hedgerows were hard work - however, I really couldn't complain as there were Wheatears! Eight of them, all big, bold and brassy Greenland-types, and all bar one were males. Two of them spent a bit of time in the bizarrely named In Front George West Field whilst the rest remained faithful to Poultry Field, although all of them were wary and were never close enough to obtain anything other than purely 'record' shots. Apart from a single Grey Wagtail everything else was highly expected and I did leave a little disappointed, although whenever Wheatears are on show you cannot be totally so. A felled tree trunk that can be found alongside Lunch Wood is home to one of our most impressive species of fungi, Dryad's Saddle. At least three fruiting bodies are showing themselves (top and below) and when it reaches full...

An eight-hour stint in the Canons Farm - Banstead Woods - Chipstead Bottom area. The NE wind was chilly, the light constantly dull and the drizzle kept off until late afternoon. This did nothing for bird song or migrants, so it was just as well that my main aim today was to look for plants. There was an awful lot in flower, with some species, (Bluebell, Ground-ivy, Crosswort and Germander Speedwell) carpeting the ground in some places. I was pleased to come across a single Solomon's Seal and the Fames Rough Fly Orchids were already in flower. It wasn't a day for inverts, but I did come across the uncommon (but expanding) Bryony Ladybird . Bryony Ladybird - if a duffer like me can stumble across this species twice locally then they must be increasing Ground Ivy - carpeting the ground in many places Dryad's Saddle - if only all fungi was this big and obvious

The Dryad's Saddle (above), was found in Nonsuch Park, Cheam, this afternoon. It's a much better specimen than the one I saw yesterday in Banstead Woods. A small child could easily sit on it (although I wouldn't recommend it as they would fall straight through it). I'm getting quite excited by fungiat the moment and seem to spend far more time looking on the ground for them than anything else natural history related at the moment.

 Oyster Mushroom Dryad's Saddle Porcelain Fungus All of the fungi pictured above were found on fallen trees in Banstead Woods. There was only a single Dryad's Saddle, and a small amount of Oyster Mushroom, but the Porcelain Fungus was quite common and varied enormously in shape, from long-stalked bonnets to the flat slippery plates pictured above.