New Fife Shore Fly

 A shore fly swept this week turned out to be Parydra aquila, apparently new to Fife

As we approach the end of March the invertebrate 1k challenge has thus far produced 77 species new for the reserve, 46 species new to me and 12 species new to the county, which isn't bad at all. It certainly makes the case for it being a worthwhile project.

Away from inverts there are still things other than inverts which are going to pop up. In this case, a sheep poo based trap for dung beetles sprouted fungi this week - the Cowpat Gem, Cheilymenia granulata. A watching eye will be kept on the bait as well as the trap in this case as there aren't many dung based fungi records for the reserve. 

Cowpat Gem

Snowy Inkcap, Coprinopsis nivea, 02/09/19

In amongst the willows and birches, probably on deer poo to begin with

cap detail

Cryptocorineum-condensatum- a fungus new for Cullaloe

On willow, though it can also be found on the wood of other deciduous trees.

Collared Parachute, Charcoal Burner

Two fungo from last Thursday edge us closer to the 1500 total - two more species remain and I have more than that at home awaiting ID!

If you go down in the woods today...

A foray with the FGSES at Cullaloe on Sunday produced a good scattering of plant pathogens and the occasional mushroom

No doubt when all is counted there will be a nice boost to the fungal list for the reserve in addition to non fungal species already added - Diamondback Moth is a nice new one as part of a recent influx. Other vascular plants may also emerge as new additions.

Lasiosphaeria ovina

A smut on anthers of Red Campion

More to follow ...

Click to go to Fungal Group of SE Scotland

Hyphomycete Ascodichaena rugosa

Another little sneaky fungus from the living branch of a beech. Hyphomycetes are asexually reproducing fungi, or anamorph stages of fungi which are also encountered with sexual stages.

and from Ellis & Ellis ...

Striped Ladybird etc.

A good day at the weekend saw a number of new species added in less than an hour! First a hawthorn twig gave up a couple of species of fungi, with this nice Melanomma - a pyrenomycete.

and then on finding an old ash tree with some fallen branches the ash specialist fungus Peniophora limitata - a nice easy species in the field with its purpley-grey colour and dark boundaries.

last but by no means least a new ladybird for the reserve dropped out of the neighbours' fir trees that overhang the reserve at the cottage - Striped ladybird

Hyphomycete fungus Trimmatostroma betulinum

The clock keeps ticking over on new species but many are not spectacular to look at! This fungus on living birch twigs creates little chains of conidio-spores which come off sooty on your fingertip if you rub it

Inonotus radiata - Alder Bracket

On an alder beside the road. Has mazy pores, but not so much as other mazegills or Daedalopsis confragata (Blushing Bracket). This one is surprisingly zonate, but has the expected hairy upper surface.While it resembles Trametes versicolor (Turkeytail) that species has round pores which termiate before the margin, and doesn't have the flamenco dress frilliness in the margin either.

New species ticking along

Another fungus added to the Cullaloe list keeps the Fungal (135) and Overall (1311) totals ticking over. This one is a nice pruinose ascomycete on Salix, but is a general pluriverous species of wood

Feautured in Ellis and Ellis as Propolomyces versicolor, in NBN/iRecord, as well as Mycobank, it is called Propolis farinosa. It's an attractive species, filling up holes where the bark is becoming decorticated and heavily farinose

Another day, another fungus

So three new fungi so far this year and a couple more candidates in a box. This Green Elfcup was found on Willow above the car park. In the race to a targetted 1500 species (total) this year this one takes the reserve to 1309. Only 191 new species left to go!

Old photographs

It's funny how looking at old photos with new eyes can reveal new detail. This photo, from the base of a Coprinus plicatlilis photo, reveals an unrecorded fungus Cymathoideum trifolii on Clover leaves. At the time of taking it I couldn't have named either species. Wonder what else I'll find trawling through the old unidentifieds.

New fungus - Exidia, thuretiana - White Brain

A nice new fungus at lunchtime today in the rain. This year I will be trying to resist keeping a year list, which should be easy since I haven't started one. I will list only additions along with the groups I have chosen to specifically zoom in on - fungi, flies, spiders and epiphytes. And ... no! no and! Well, let's see

Here it is - the white brain

A big day in the east end

A trip out to the eastern leg of the reserve proved a big success at the weekend, with a particular focus on lichens. I started out by dropping into the area north of the paddock to check a hawthorn I knew had a lot of lichen. My intention was to record Platismatia glauca which I was sure must be there. On the same tree I also bumped into Pseudevernia furfuracea.

Phlebia radiata

Pseudevernia with its dark underside

The lettucy-looking Platismatia

Further along the eastern leg I checked out the Phlebia radiata just because it's so nice, but also found Diatrype disciformis there which I hadn't recorded before. As I walked along I looked down into the ditch on the right to see a Woodcock standing in the shallow water. It eyeballed me for a few seconds before deciding to make a break for it. A few seconds longer than I normally see them for!

My intention now was to check the wall for lichens, but what I wasn't expecting was a new fern and a new moss at the same spot. I barely covered a few feet of wall and also had some nice unrecorded lichens there.

Candelariella sp.

Asplenium ruta-muraria and Encalypta streptocarpa

Caloplaca holocarpa

Verrucaria nigrescens

Verrucaria nigrescens

On the way back I took some photos of a tree-trunk lichen which turned out to be Lecanora expallens. It is in an extensive patch but some small outliers allow the grey prothallus and mint green sorediate centres to be more apparent:

All in all a big day with several new lichen species addded plus one bonus fern and one bonus moss.

Early December fungal additions

So the new records keep trickling in with a nice collection of fungi on site today. Of note was this Hygophorus hypothejus - "Herald of Winter" which I recorded exactly two years ago to the day.

One new one for the reserve list was the delightful "Lemon Disco" Bisporella citrina

 

A small selection of other fungi still out and about in early December:

Mycena sp.

To be determined

Hemimycena tortuosa

  

In addition to the fungal records there was also a large piece of Scots Pine which has joined us at ground level, no doubt soon to be overtaken by Stereum sanguinolentum and other Pinus lovers.

750 milestone reached!

So the 750th species for the year was also the 125th species of fungus for the reserve - a rust on Coltsfoot leaf which I don't have great pics of. Instead here's a lovely Velvet shank - Flammulina velutipes

Also seenon the day was this lovely frozen Tremella mesenterica, which could have served as an ice cube!

Long time ...

It;s been almost a month since the last update from Cullaoe, though recording continues and records approach 750 species for the year. Of late fungi have been standing out, though these three not so much!

Two new species for the reserve and one new for me:

Leptosporomyces garzinii - new to me

Botryobasidium subcoronatum - v.commonly encountered

Botryobasidium conspersum - new to reserve

Fungus frenzy

Back from holidays and back to adding new species to the catalogue!

A couple of new fungi added to the list and a couple of new spiders for me, although one is already recorded on the reserve (Meta segmentata). Spider pics to follow since I left my camera at home.

The first fungus is Hebeloma pusillum, growing in association with willows on boggy ground. The second is Russula fellea, the Geranium Brittlegill (because it smells like geraniums). Other fungi were added to the year list, but weren't new (Wrinkled Shield, Woolly Milkcap, Clustered Toughshank, Redleg Toughshank)

The second spider is Drapetisca socialis, a Linyphiid which was in its expected niche of Beech tree bark.

H.pusillum

H.pusillum

Geranium Brittlegill

Blushing bracket, Rosy Minor

Everything's coming up rosy these days

The blushing bracket, which likes willows, bruises pink and eventually becomes an outrageous red colour

This rosy minor was new for the reserve on 1st September. Pretty little thing.