This week we were mainly cutting hawthorn and blackthorn. That means I have splinters everywhere and scratches everywhere else.
I found two birds' nests. Both with these perfect bowls which seemed to be soil based inside a woven basket of twigs all insulated by moss. They seem blackbird-sized to me. A review of birds' nest online though suggests these may be thrush nests. Blackbirds don't seem to go for the mud and moss ensemble and are content with twigs and leaves.
As for the resin, well, this was seeping from some of the trees. I think hawthorns.
I can find nothing about this online. This tree had many drops. They do not smell at all and are still a little squishy. Looking at the bark, maybe it's a blackthorn. Nothing about that either. Huh.
The fungi, well. There was this - which I think may be cushion bracket.
There was a lot of that.
And a bit of this, which I cannot identify.
Maybe it's silverleaf fungus? That seems possible as this fungus likes both Prunus species (blackthorn) and Crataegus (hawthorn). You can use it to stop regrowth on cut trunks! We used herbicide. This would be preferable!
Interesting. Last but not least a spider. It was very timid but kept flipping over so I saw its dorsal and ventral sides, though I could not photograph it. I think it was a walnut orb-weaver. Descriptions of this spider fit its behaviour, how it looked (without my glasses on) and where it was - in decaying wood.
Great day of spotting things.
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