Back to Spey Dam - with friends

My lonely lichen life (!) was enlivened by meeting up with 2 keen lichenologists that I had only previously met on Zoom.  As they were up on holiday locally we arranged a lichening trip together and went to Spey Dam and Laggan Churchyard.  We were blessed with the most glorious of days. Sunny, clear and no wind which made for fantastic reflections in Loch Spey.

Loch Spey

My husband also came along and took the not so flattering pictures of  us looking closely at lichens!

This has led to some discussion as to the collective name for a group of lichenologists - a "peer", a "bottoms-up, a "myopia""... maybe you have some (polite) suggestions that you can leave in the comments!

On the way back, we called in at Laggan Churchyard.

The church is for sale for only £35,000.  A bargain - though you would need funds to do it up and install water.  The graveyard is not included in the sale and I think it belongs to, or is managed by, Highland Council.  I love the graveyard as it is full of a great variety of lichens, mainly on the headstones.  Because the headstones are made of different stones, mainly granite or sandstone, each kind of rock hosts its own community of lichens. The church would make a great Lichen Education Centre!

One new (to me) lichen I found in the church yard was an Umbilicaria,.  These are leaf like lichens which attach to the rock at one point (like an umbilicus). Some of them have black fruiting bodies (apothecia) which look like coiled licorice (the scientific term for this is gyrose).

In close up it reminds me of a biscuit with raisins it it.  It's called Umbilicaria torrefacta.

From further away it looks like something that has been deep fried and left in too long and burnt.

On the way home, I called in at Biallidbeg cemetery and was impressed by the very simple but ingenious gate closer.

Look at the big stone hanging on the left.  It is attached to the centre  of the top rail of the gate.  

When you open the gate it raises the stone so when you let go, the stone  falls and closes the gate. Just genius!