Bored with fungi yet?

Last weekend I went to the New Forest to see the HFRGs (Hampshire Fungus Recording Group) display at the reptilary and go on one of the guided walks. I joined the group after going to this annual event two years ago and it was good to see some of the rather charismatic(!) members there. 

Incredibly, for the last day of October, there were still snakes basking in the enclosures. A single Grass Snake and four Adders including a very young one and a black individiual.

Grass snake ready to moult

Two Adders

I didn't see many new species, it's bound to get more difficult as your list increases, but this rather stunning bolete - Boletus calopus (the Bitter Beech Bolete) was new for me. These events aren't about finding lots of obscure species or creating huge lists but introducing the public to fungi and it seems to work very well.

Fungi with a macabre story always please the punters! Cordyceps militaris emerging from a caterpillar.

Oudemansiella mucida - Porcelain Fungus. Does what it says on the tin.

Amanita rubescens. The Blusher. We also saw a Flirt......

I also had a trip to Setley to look for the legendary Devil's Fingers

And there were plenty of eggs waiting to hatch