Monday 10 November 2008

Fungi Foray


A few Sunday's ago we met in a nearby wood to search for mushrooms. The walk was led by some members of The Northern Ireland Fungus Group.

The weather stayed dry and the scenery was beautiful.

We were amazed at how many species and types of fungi we found.


Needless to say that the children made the best foragers.

They have such good eyesight and can spot even the smallest mushroom hidden amongst the leaves and moss.




The experts helped us to identify our finds.





Our favourite native mushroom was the Earth Star.





A cloud of spores is released by this mushroom when raindrops touch it, or when they are tapped lightly.

I found this clip of one releasing its spores.

Just magical.






By the end of the afternoon we had found lots of variety's of mushroom but none in sufficient quantities to cook.

However we did gather a great collection for M & O to bring to school.





9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hoe beautiful idea! going around woods together esperts to explain about fungi... and what faboluos view of trees!

anamama said...

What a lovely experience. It seems you had a wonderful and educational time.

mayaluna said...

I love this! Beautiful experience. That one tiny shroom, held out to show, is a wonderful photo that seems to capture the magic so much.

Anonymous said...

How wonderful, I keep thinking I must go on one of the local courses to identify fungi so I know what to pick.

Love the clip amazing what is available

Unknown said...

Wonderful! That tiny mushroom is amazing! And so is your macro shot of it. You are very clever to do this.
~Emily in Norway

Anonymous said...

Now that would have been a very interesting walk! Fungus really do fascinate me!
Mary:)

raining sheep said...

What beautiful photos. We used to go 'mushrooming' when I was little and lived in the Czech Republic. I loved wild mushrooms.

Kelly Fletcher said...

Sounds like quiet fun - glad the weather held for you. Been enjoying your kitchen poetry, too.

Anonymous said...

That looked like so much fun and it is just so beautiful there. Love the shot of the trees. YOu ahad stopped by my blog a while back and left me a sweet comment and I am just now getting back to you to say hello and thanks for stopping by.:) You have a lovely blog so I think that I shall add it to my blog list.:)
Take care,
Salina