Firstly thank you all so very much for your kind and thoughtful comments, emails and direct messages wishing Toby a happy birthday. He had a lovely afternoon full of the simple pleasures that make him happiest; balloons, cake, lego, sensory toys, curry for dinner, salted caramel ice-cream for pudding and a ‘disco’ in the evening – he likes dancing by himself with the lights off and the disco ball on. I popped a couple of pictures of him taken on his birthday at the end of the previous post.
Talking of simple pleasures, I indulged in one of my favourites earlier this week when I took myself off for an autumn wood walk. Because we’ve had a lot of rain here recently I thought that it might be a good year for fungi and I was not disappointed. I have never seen quite so many different types out in the woods and spent a very happy 3 hours wandering around with my camera and getting wet, muddy knees at Danemead wood, Broxbourne common and Cowheath wood. There’s a mix of habitats there: deciduous woodland with oaks and hornbeams; a large area of pine woods and small areas of heathland and it was very peaceful with just the sounds of birdsong and the breeze ruffling the treetops and persuading the dying leaves from the branches.
I tried to name all the different funghi but have given up because it’s so hard to identify most of them. A few though are easy – like the yellow staghorn which looks like a fairy campfire glowing in the undergrowth; the false deathcap that has a weird almost luminous greenish glow and the iconic fairytale fly agaric with it’s white spotted bright red cap. Each is beautiful in their own unique way, even though some are very poisonous!
There are also some great pictures I’d like to show you of the fox, who is still a regular garden visitor, but I think with all of these woodland pictures I’ve run out of space here today, so I’ll save those for next time. Have a great weekend and if you get time please leave me a comment below and let me know what seasonal delights you’re enjoying in your part of the world.
little cotton rabbits 
What stunning photographs!! Here on the coast of the Pacific Northwest in the USA, we have some mushrooms but I’ve never seen some of the ones you show. Our forest is about 1/3 deciduous trees and they are all wearing their Fall colors. The rest of our forest is evergreens of all varieties. We do have that same fern though. I so enjoyed this arm-chair travel and I look forward to seeing more of your fox. Thank you.
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I’m glad Toby had a good birthday. Salted caramel ice-cream is popular around here too. Your photos are fantastic, especially the fly agaric, it really is a thing of beauty. I saw a lovely fungus today, I must remember to go and take a photo, it was perfect. No idea what it was – a sort of tall, pale cone, starting to fluff out a little at the edges. It would be good to be able to name them all. At least I have learned one today – the yellow staghorn, wonderful. I hope you have a good weekend. CJ xx
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What an amazing outing you had finding all these fungi. Thank you for the beautiful pictures!
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love your photos of the mushrooms, I have never seen the red ones in person, I’ve seen many types of mushrooms but not those
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Absolutely gorgeous pics! I have never seen red mushrooms in person. They are so lovely!
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Stunning photos of your walk. So different to ours in southern Australia. Love your fungi pictures. So glad Toby had a good birthday.
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Wonderful photos Julie..those fungi are amazing. I too am loving autumn this year, despite the rain! Glad Toby had fun on his birthday too. Love Sue xx
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I live in the forest of Rambouillet and I also see many fly agaric, in France we call them “amanite tue-mouche”. We are looking for mushrooms and chanterelles but many people are also looking for them, you have to be the first ! And we pick up chestnuts. Have a good day
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Thanks so much Vikki, I was amazed at all of the differnt types that I found in such a small area, it was quite magical!
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Hi CJ and thanks so much, you can’t beat a bit of salted caramel ice-cream 🙂 I was so excited to find the fly agarics – I might even have done a little dance of joy! I’ve never seen them in the flesh before, though ticking them off my list of want-to-sees has been a long held ambition. Now I just need a nuthatch, a carpet of wood anenomes and an osprey to complete my local tick list 🙂
Enjoy your weeken too xxx
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Thanks so much Barbara, it was an amazing afternoon, I’m so grateful to live near to an enclave of ancient woodland that offeres up such delights x
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Thanks Mariola, I’ve never seen them before either, though I have wanted to for a long time. I’ve looked in the same wood in previous years but they’ve not been there so I think this must be a good year for fungi spotting, I hope you get to find some near to you, they are very beautiful x
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Thanks RC, they are wonderful aren’t they? I’ve never seen any in person either so I was delighted to find them. Hope you get to see their beauty in person sometime soon, x
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Thanks so much Penny, Toby did have a good day 🙂 And I was very lucky on my walk to find such an amazing collection!
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Thanks so much Sue. It has been quite wet, although today is bright and sunny here. I’m hoping for a few more bright days as autumn progresses so we can enjoy the beauty of the leaf colour as the woodlands change – it always looks more vibrant under sunny blue skies. Hope autumn is vibrant and beautiful with you x
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Hi Marie and thanks for sharing – the French name for fly agaric sounds beautifully lyrical. It sounds like you live in a beautiful and bountiful forest, I hope you are first to discover some delicious autumn treats x
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Your talent knows no bounds! The photographs are stunning.
So pleased that the Birthday Boy had a good day.
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These are so wonderful! How lovely they are…….
Just getting ready to sew up two mini bears for my grands. Such a well written and well designed pattern.
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Fungi are very inspirational, and your walk found some corkers.
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What a beautiful place you live in. Walking in the peace of the forest is so restorative. Happy Autumn!
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What great pics Julie, it definitely has been a good year for fungi, although I can never find any fly agaric … I’d be so excited if I did, they are amazing!
Looking forward to seeing your little foxy friend!
So glad Toby had a happy birthday. 🙂
V x
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Julie your photos are amazing. Two wonderful photographers/artists in your family. I live in the high mountain desert and I’ve never seen any fungi like these. They are so beautiful and captured through your lens just simply magical. Thanks for sharing. I wish I could take a walk with you through your woods. Our leaves are changing here and it’s getting chilly. The colors of green, yellow, orange and red in the mountains and in my yard are stunning this time of year. Now I need to go out and rake them.
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Love your photos and words, Julie. Happy Birthday to Toby too. I enjoy hearing about him and your beautiful daughter. Looks like you live in a very beautiful place. Denny and I had a wonderful time at a family wedding on Friday. You can see a slideshow of Nestldown (Los Gatos, CA) pictures here:
http://www.nestldown.com/Nestldown-gallery-slideshow.html
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Julie,
You live in such a beautiful place, visiting your blog often takes me on a little vacation.
Happy Toby’s Birthday to you!
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I seem to not be getting your posts, but checked back and found out about the Birthday party and the outing with pictures. I’m so glad the little party was so wonderful. Any party with special ice cream is a good one!
Your fungi are beautiful. So many kinds, here in Ohio we find many varieties but not as beautiful as yours. I love where you live. Thank you for all of your sweet posts.
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Oh Julie — these pictures are just so beautiful! I would LOVE to see a fairytale fly agaric in the wild. Well, ok, in real life — they’re just SO striking!!! Next time Bonnie and I come to see you (LOL — please bring this to her attention) we’re coming in the fall so we can go mushroom hunting!
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Beautiful pictures that remind me of home thank you. Currently our home is 8000 miles away and it is spring. We are enjoying daffodils, penguims sitting on eggs, fluffy king penguin chicks and ice creams in the garden on a warmer spring day and lambs running around (we have 2). Hi from the Falklands!
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