Some Wild Fungi Photos That I Have Taken This Autumn. It Always Amazes Me How Quickly The Fruiting Bodies

Is this partial albinism? A few years back I saw a blackbird (common name) with a lot of white feathers (see my picture below) and a quick internet search suggested partial albinism as the reason for this. However a more recent search suggested that partial albinism was not a thing and other genetic mutations are at play.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Rare white puffin spotted on Scottish island

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) said the bird was first seen on Handa Island in mid-June by seabird fieldworker Dora Hamilton.

Photographer: Dora Hamilton

My attempt at Smaugust 2024. Though I am randomly selecting prompts from multiple lists.

The first prompt shown is for fungi.

The second prompt is for amphibian.

The third prompt was venomous. I combined an adder which is my country's only native venomous snake with a Hoopoe bird which has a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria which produces noxious chemicals.

Moth Dress by Cat Johnson Photo credit: Christina Solomons 

Some work acquaintances asked me to make them a butterfly hair clip after they helped me with an open day.

The first requested one based on a large emerald moth and the second asked for a peacock butterfly.

I am quite pleased with them so I thought I would share how they are made on the off chance that someone else wants to give it a go.

What you need:

- Denim or other suitably thick fabric from unwearable old clothes

- PVA glue

- acrylic paint

- embroidery hoop (optional but helps keep fabric flat)

- paper + tracing paper + pencil + scissors

- hot glue

- French barrette hair clip (alternatively you could stick it to a fridge magnet or something else)

How to make:

1. Prep the fabric by cutting a section, securing it in the hoop, then painting it first with PVA then with two layers of white acrylic paint (letting it dry between each application)

2. Find reference photos of desired species, preferably with wide open wings and taken from above.

3. Sketch half of the moth or butterfly onto a piece of paper.

4. Trace each wing separately on to the tracing paper and transfer to the fabric. Then flip and do this again so the wings are mirrored. Also do this for the body

5. Paint with acrylic paint.

6. Cut out and assemble with hot glue.

7. Stick it on to the hair clip (or other item) with hot glue

If you do make one, I would love to see them.

I wanted to enter an embroidery competition that was run by Domestika. And this is what I ended up coming up with. It is a lichen themed French barrett hair clip.

Prior to planning and making my embroidery I went on some walks and took some photos for inspiration.

I really love lichen it's such a strange thing. The physical structure of lichen is a fungi that clings to tree branches, rocks, and other solid surfaces. The fungi provides a home for a colony of tiny algae or cyanobacteria. The algae or cyanobacteria photosynthesize producing sugars and other molecules that they share with the fungi. These are what give the lichen its colours. So lichen isn't really one thing. It is a living collaboration of two completely unrelated organisms. It can survive desiccation and bounces right back with a little rain.

It looks a bit like coral and can be used to indicate air quality. Overall a fascinating and splendid amalgam.

Today I visited the Ossuary in Hythe, Kent, UK with my parents. It was absolutely fascinating and well worth the visit if you are interested in local history (£3 adult entry).

You find yourself wondering about the lives they all lead and who they might have been. Hopefully they are all in a better place regardless.

It is no doubt due to angle and lighting but they all look like they have distinctive personalities and expressions if that makes sense.

Yesterday afternoon I dragged my friend to Denge Wood forest. While there, I spotted one of my top five favorite beetles. These lustrous and magnificent little guys are green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris).

They are incredibly fast predatory beatles that hunt down and eat other insects. The larvae of this beetle live in individual burrows in sandy soil. They flick out the sand around them creating a pitfall that other insects fall into.

So beautiful but deadly.

I went fossil hunting down at the Warren (in Folkestone, Kent, UK) on Thursday last week. These are some of my favourite finds from the trip (I washed them up at home).

Fossil hunting is great fun. If you live in the UK, and fancy giving it a shot, then there are some really handy websites that you should check out. https://ukfossils.co.uk/ and http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/fossil-locations-of-great-britain/

If you don't live in the UK but still want to give it a go then I would recommend looking for local fossil hunting clubs, societies and websites. Failing that you should try to look for areas where sedimentary rocks are being eroded. For instance, cliffs by the sea, rivers, old quarries, etc.

Just make sure you don't trespass or go anywhere too dangerous. For instance, if you are fossil hunting under cliffs at the beach, don't get to close to the cliffs (falling debris and cliffs collapsing) and plan around the tides (you don't want to get cut off).

2,300-Year-Old Plush Bird from the Altai Mountains of Siberia, c.400-300 BCE: this figure was crafted with a felt body and reindeer-fur stuffing, all of which remains intact

This plush bird was sealed within the frozen barrows of Pazyryk, Siberia, for more than two millennia, where a unique microclimate enabled it to be preserved. The permafrost ice lense formation that runs below the barrows provided an insulating layer, preventing the soil from heating during the summer and allowing it to quickly freeze during the winter; these conditions produced a separate microclimate within the stone walls of the barrows themselves, thereby aiding in the preservation of the artifacts inside.

This is just one of the many well-preserved artifacts that have been found at Pazyryk. These artifacts are attributed to the Scythian/Altaic cultures.

Currently housed at the Hermitage Museum.

I was wearing the lichen themed hair clip I made, while on a walk yesterday. I spotted some beautiful lichen and moss and decided to have an impromptu photo shoot. So here are a whole bunch of pictures of my hair clip alongside the organisms that inspired it, just because.

Plus 2 bonus pictures of lichen because I love it.