Fungi forays show healthy autumn ecosystems in Easter Ross
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The vast majority of fungi emerge between late summer and early winter, but each year is different, and their behaviour is hard to predict.
As autumn rainfall arrives, and the average temperature steadily drops, this time of year becomes the ideal conditions for exploring and foraging.
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In recognition of UK Fungus Day, a nationwide celebration of the many faces of fungi which took place on Saturday, October 7, High Life Highland's (HLH) countryside rangers hosted a series of "fungi foray" events throughout the month.
Marcia O’Hara, HLH countryside ranger for Easter Ross, led each of these events.
She said: “I did five forays in Easter Ross and Sutherland, four focussing on woodland species and the last one focussing on grassland fungi, in particular waxcaps.
“These species have had their habitat of unimproved grassland reduced by 90 per cent in recent decades, so they are not as easy to find as they used to be.
“We were lucky to find seven different species of waxcap at Little Ferry in Golspie.
"Plantlife are currently encouraging people to record waxcaps so they can get a better understanding of the remaining distribution of these species.
“Overall, 45 people from the local community joined me on the events, and we managed to identify 77 different species of fungi altogether.”
The first fungi foray session took place on September 5 with others on September 14, September 20, October 4 and October 24.
An average of 20 species of fungi were found per session.
Marcia continued: “Highlights included the Scarlet Caterpillar Club (Cordyceps Militaris) – which grows on the decomposing remains of moth or butterfly larvae buried under the soil – and Prunes and Custard (Tricholomopsis Decora), a rare find in most of Britain and Ireland, although it is recorded more frequently in parts of Scotland and is also found in many northern countries of mainland Europe.”
While the series of fungi foray events have come to a close, HLH senior countryside ranger for north Highlands, Andy Summers, will be offering a ‘beginners guide to fungi’ talk on Thursday, January 11 with more information here
