Sarah Mnstr

Happy Solstice!

WOAH!!!

Wow, the whole process is fascinating! I thought fungi were interesting but slime moulds are something else!

...I would love to find some of the Didymiums though. They look so cool!

That's good to know! Previously this is as close as I've got to them, so the fuzziness wasn't as obvious. And I'd love to know how they disperse spores as they just look like pom poms on a stick, no visible pores/gills etc!

I'll be making a pilgrimage each year to see these ones 🤣 I've never found them locally to me but these are a just about decent amount of travel time away so I'm looking forward to visiting them next year!

Also, the hunt for slime moulds in that garden continues 🤣

A welcome correction from @regularslimeguy.bsky.social - these are actually tiny mushrooms!

Are they? Thank you, I didn't realize! That would explain why I can't find out what they are when I look at slime moulds 🤣

Every year these tiny myxomycetes (slime moulds) pop up on fallen leaves in our garden, have been trying to get a decent photo for a few years now. This one's a start! Second photo is actual size!

The incredible Barbrook II visited in November, a stone circle partly enclosed by a drystone wall. This area is well worth a visit, with 3 stone circles and a cairn field in the near vicinity.

An army of Candlesnuff Fungus looking Mordor-esque, at Risley Moss NR.

An excellent start to my week off, stone circle bothering in the Peak District this morning and out for a Persian meal tonight.

Swipe to see some spectacular poo-shrooms.

Many, many photos were taken, in some incredible light.

Then, for the first time ever, the memory card corrupted 💔

So I went back to the location the following weekend, and found this amazing young one. Fungus or Facehugger, you decide! 🤣

There's one species of mushroom I've wanted to see for years but never managed to, and that's the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides). So, I was chuffed to bits to discover some while on a nature walk with Fungal Punk Dave (go on one of his walks everyone, you won't regret it)!

An image taken from above, showing a small circle of small standing stones on moorland. The surrounding heather has turned various shades of red and brown.

Harden Moor Stone Circle (ring cairn), November 2025. Small but perfectly formed, and well worth a visit.

A very grey sky with trees on the horizon, underneath which a circle of low stones is visible just peeking out above heather.

Harden Moor Stone Circle, a ring cairn at the top of Harden Moor in Yorkshire. Went up here to try and get some drone shots, luckily the weather was kind enough to cooperate for an hour after constant rain (which was NOT in the weather forecast) all morning.

More of those incredible fluorescent Sulphur Tufts 🍄

Sulphur Tuft + UV Torch = fluorescence 🔦

I do still listen to audiobooks when I wake in the night and can't get to sleep, the black and white screen seems to be enough to stop me from checking the internet as if I do, it's fatal!

Male Red Mason Bee, April 2025 #bee #bees #gardeningforwildlife

Haha I'm trying! Phone screen turns black and white at 10pm and notifications don't show through, which has helped enormously in that respect, it's a really good setting! Reverts back to normal in the morning!

Hahah I can't even count 🤣🤣🤣

No, not at all! I haven't been logging into any social media really, apart from Instagram occasionally!

And then she disappeared again (work and elderly folks stuff been a little bit insane this year). But here I am again, and will try to leave it less than two months to log in again 🤦🏻‍♀️

Earlier this summer we found loads of caterpillars on our apple tree. Ever since we've been patiently waiting and it's finally happened - our babies have all grown up! 🤣 Into these beautiful Apple Ermine moths. #moths #teammoth #gardeningforwildlife

I'm game! Let me know when you get it!

This young man was a complete surprise! He's an Orange Vented Mason bee - these can take 2 years to develop from egg to bee. This guy though had an extra long lie in - he hatched out a couple of weeks ago from one of my 2022 cocoons (I keep them an extra year - just in case)! #bees

A lovely walk up to Walshaw Dean today via the Pennine Way. Saw my first ever Lapwings on the way up, the end destination being the drowned stone circle / ring cairn, currently just about visible under Walshaw Dean middle reservoir due to the current dry spring.

I have this on my list to read too!