Along the Calder

 I decided to test out the theory in my last post, that the Witches Whiskers on Beard lichen (Usnea subfloridana) were more likely to occur in damp humid areas, and headed off alongside the Calder river but on the West (Biallaid) side. There are plenty of old birches in boggy ground.  

Sure enough, there were (tiny) fruiting bodies on the lichen so the theory seems to be promising. 

 There were other things to see as well:

These strange jelly-like blobs were on a dead fallen tree and I am assuming that they are some kind of fungus that has swelled in the rain. The closest match I can find online is the Crystal Brain fungus (what a great name!) Exidia nucleata (= Myxarium nucleatum) Names get changed quite often nowadays, especially if they do DNA analysis. Or it could be Exidia thuretiana, White Brain.

The dog found a roe deer antler which I brought home.

I was unsure when Roe deer shed their antlers so I looked it up on https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/deer-overview-antler-development-summary

"Under normal circumstances, antlers are shed and re-grown annually to coincide with the deer’s breeding season. Red, Fallow and Sika shed their antlers during April and May and the new growth is complete and cleaned by August/September. Roe, which breed earlier, shed their antlers in November/December and re-grow them over the winter and early spring"

So this antler must have been shed very recently. This was confirmed when I washed it as there was still some blood oozing from the end. 

Getting better...

 Exactly 2 years ago today I wrote a post about Beard lichens (Usnea) and re-reading it, I am pleased to find that after 2 years I am a bit better at knowing what I am looking at! I meet up (by Zoom) every fortnight with a few others who share my interest in lichens, and we have a little investigation going - about Usnea and the weird "flying saucers" with whiskers that grow on them:

The technical name is an apothecium and it is a structure that produces spores that  disperse to grow more lichen.  This is a picture of Usnea subfloridana, which is a really common lichen locally, but it is only rarely that I have found them with these circular growths on them.  I have a theory that they only produce them in damp areas near rivers but I will need to check out some more similar habitats to see if that is the case.

Further south there is a very similar lichen called Usnea florida which always has the circular structures and has the lovely name of Witches' Whiskers. Here's a photo from Wales - not my photo but from Radnorshire Wildlife Trust

Usnea florida

I found examples of these circular growths on Usneas by Tromie Bridge, part of the  Insh Marshes RSPB reserve.  The meadow is best known for the abundance of orchids in the summer, but the whole area is worth a visit at any time of the year.

River Tromie

There were the remains of puffballs: 

Mature puffballs

You may be more familiar with them as round white balls, but they mature and grow spores inside and then a hole forms at the top.  If drops of rain (or a foot!) lands on them the spores puff out like smoke.

Back at home, I regularly see wood mice in the garden and occasionally they get into the house (one of the side effects of living in an old stone house that does not have conventional foundations). Unfortunately a field vole got caught in one of my mouse traps:

They are much chunkier with short tails and blunt faces.  They are much more secretive than mice and I have only rarely seen them in the garden, but they are obviously about. It was rather sad to have caught one. A few years ago I even caught a shrew. These creatures are around us but we remain oblivious to their presence most of the time.

Another lichen – or is that two?

The next lichen I wanted to try to ID is one that hangs off twigs like a pale green beard, with lots of thin wispy branches.  It originates from one point so it is a fruticose (bushy) lichen. 

The first question is about the cross section of the branches – round, flat or grooved. 

These look round which narrows it down to 4 species all which all have names starting with Usnea.

Unfortunately, after that it gets a bit tricky… the next distinguishing feature is to do with reproduction and asks if there are any "soredia".  Not a term I know, so looking it up they are powdery granules on the surface. Here's a close-up:

Well, I can see some little specks on the surface but is that what they mean?  Quite honestly, I don't know as I have not had any experience with lichens.  There is another lichen that I picked up that I thought might be an Usnea.  It's a bit darker but otherwise similar.

A close up of this one does show something on the surface:

So my best guess is that they are both Usnea  and might be Usnea cornuta or Usnea subfloridana, and I can't get much further than that! I notice that the British Lichen Society says don't try to ID Usnea to species, just record Usnea so I will have to be content with that.