With a clear night at last I wandered down the road from home and into the quiet Guildhall Lane which has a good uninterrupted view west.
It took a little while of scanning the ever-darkening sky before I picked up the comet known as Comet A3 just left of due west. With only my phone with me I managed to snap a couple of pictures. Try to see it this week if you can because it won't be round again for another 80,000 years!
After visit Mum we took advantage of being around the north side of Norwich and opted for a walk around Cawston and Marsham Heaths.
It was pleasing to see that recent rain has meant we finally have some good numbers of fungi popping up. Walking through the horse fields on the south side of Cawston Heath initially I found Nail Fungus, Creamy Pinkgill, Silky Pinkgill, Giant Puffball, Spotted Toughshank, Common Parasols and some interesting pale russulas that I'm still looking into.
Around the fringes of the heath along the edge of the pines False Chanterelles were numerous with Petticoat Brittlestem, Deceiver, Purplepore Bracket and Amythyst Deceiver also seen.
Then, on a circuit of Marsham Heath (while trying not to stand on the plethora of Dor Beetles on the paths!) I found a single Cep which was duly collected for tea! Some more dark purple russulas were by a pond which I am looking into but near the end of the walk I found a good concentration of goodies including Saffron Milkcap, Frosty Webcap, Pestle Puffball, Ugly Milkcap, Geranium Brittlegill, Hoof Fungus, Blusher and best of all a pristine Jewelled Amaninta.
Saturday morning saw a few of us meeting on the carpark at Sloughbottom Park in Norwich for the latest Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray - to Sweetbriar Marshes, newly aquired by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
While still by the pavillion Jeremy produced a couple of nice specimens he'd collected at the UEA. A colourful young Larch Bolete and a rather less colourful but interesting Sticky Bolete. Both were new to me. A Giant Polypore was also at the base of a tree in the park.
Moving onto the marsh proper the species count began to rise. The highlights from a very enjoyable few hours were Hairy Oysterling, Hawthorn Twiglet, Lemonbalm Webcap, Mealy Domecap, Red-edge Brittlestem, Rootlet Brittlestem, Black Bulgar, Small Stagshorn, Yellow Fieldcap, Bleeding Bonnet, Milking Bonnet, the fantastically named Cowpat Gem, Bracken Club, Bracken Map, Redleg Toughshank, Common Mazegill, Brown Birch Bolete, Hen of the Woods, Green Elfcup and a few others that have been taken home for study and identification. Nearing the ring road end of the eastern section a large fallen tree had Flame Shield, Yellow Shield and Velvet Shield within a few feet of each other!
Despite the overcast and cool conditions we had a few good inverts too. I had Giant Willow Aphids, Silk Button Gall and and out of place Rosemary Beetle before Vanna got her net out and swept some dry grassland just into the western section on the other side of the ring road for Small Orbweaver, Cricket-bat Orbweaver, Two-clawed Hunting Spider the spider Microlynyphia pusilla and a new pseudo-scorpion Neobisium carcinoides.
Belinda and I had planned to go walking at Winterton on Saturday but by the time we got sorted it was a bit too late so we postponed it until Sunday.
Then, Sunday morning arrives with early news of an Asian Desert Warbler in Winterton North Dunes. When the stars align...!
Parking in East Somerton as we'd originally planned it was a long walk to the bird but these days I'm rather more relaxed about these things so it was a stress-free stroll at the end of which I saw the bird within about a minute! Chatting to a few people I've not seen for a while the bird went on to show superbly as it alternated between 2 clumps of bushes and memorably did a fly-around right up to the observers and back. As our plan was to walk I didn't take my camera so I'm an indebted to Rob Wilton for kind permission to use his excellent shot below. This record is the 2nd for the county and the first since 1993 when I watched a nest-building bird on Blakeney Point.
After having our fill we continued our walk north and then back via the beach and dunes again. While having lunch I found a couple of nice lichens - Red Pixie Cup, Cladonia ciccifera and Cladonia foliacea and also spotted several Fox Moth caterpillars in the dunes and Sea Rocket on the beach. Several huge Grey Seal bulls were lurking in the surf but there was no sign of any pups yet.
In East Somerton a Beefsteak Fungus was at the base of the oak known as the Witches Finger inside the ruined church followed by a pleasing find of a vocal Yellow-browed Warbler by the roadside nearby.
A couple of local excursions over an extended weekend.
I checked Tyrrel's Wood first with fungi in mind. There were a few fruiting bodies emerging but still not very many. Inspecting some Fenugreek Stalkballs on a gnarly old birch I found what was the best sighting of the morning - c5 False Ladybirds. These ladybird lookalikes are fungus feeders and the first I've seen locally. On a fence further round I also found Autumn Spider, Metellina segmentata. Fungi included a bit of a mystery pale orange one on a fallen birch that may prove to be Phyllotopsis nidulans, False Death Cap, Amethyst Deceiver, Brown Rollrim, Bleeding Broadleaf Crust, Peniophora quercina, Birch Polypore, Fairy Inkcap and Ochre Brittlegill plus Common Script Lichen.
Fast forward to Saturday and a long walk around Wortham Ling starting and finishing at Roydon. Nothing too much to report except Mycena Mould (a new one for me), Alder Bracket, Yellow Brain and a small colony of Ivy Bees.
