As the autumn arrives, the days get colder and the rain at the moment gets more frequent.
We like to wrap up warm and take in the most of the outdoors as possible.
We wanted to have a go at foraging/ identifying something a bit different today not our normal heist of berry, wild flowers, plants and birds. Honestly we are complete novices at it so always a bit worried at the thought of going to look for mushrooms we took the safe option of not trying to eat them with our limited knowledge, maybe when we know a bit more. They do loads of great tours and walks that are usually free with a professional who can easily identify the beasts maybe after one of those we will feel better about grabbing one to eat. The year is winding down so whats a better time than to find out a little more about mushrooms and be able to identify some of them.
With the forest floor covered in fallen leaves and fallen down trees it is an ideal time to hunt for the many different varieties of mushrooms. We will show you some of them we spotted. Hopefully we are able to identify the ones we found but don't judge us if they are completely wrong, its early days and it was a lot of fun trying. Defiantly takes your mind of the rain.
Mushrooms can be shy little fellows they like to hide under the brush and often found under trees in damp dark conditions but when walking in the woods you will see them if your looking or in some cases you will smell them first.
The first mushroom we stumbled across is a very common one the sulphur tuft toadstool,
They can be found all year round but you will most likely see them anytime in April to December.
You will find them across the uk in woodlands and forests. they grow in groups on old decaying wood and tree stumps.
This is a type of honey fungus there are several verities but this species attack and kill the roots of plants, they will often be found in woodlands and forests. this one was a devil to identify we were a bit worried about touching some of the ones we didn't no so was hard to be sure. Risky game this mushroom thing.
The stinkhorn lives up to its name and is indeed very smelly. We found it by the smell alone, (trust us, think old eggs) it emerges from an underground from an egg or sorts and gets its horrid smell from the "globa" a substance that covers the cap, this as we found attracts alot of flies. Its a very interesting and unusual one.
The angels bonnet is rather beautiful one it is found on tree stumps and fallen trees. you can find them in woodlands if you explore around tree stumps they look so delicate and are tiny at times.
This has been a little hard for us to identify but we believe it is either a Chanterelle or a False chanterelle hygrophoropsis. they can often be found in woodlands or sometimes in open fields and are found in small groups. Its not our favourite kind of reminds us of those skip crisps you have when your a kid.
This one is one we are not sure it maybe weeping widow but its not dark enough we think these can sometimes be found in your back garden. They look the most friendly but if it is a weeping widow it most defiantly is not.
This rather lovely looking fella is the butter cap it has a lovely name to go with its delacate cup like appearance. Being a very common mushroom you will most likely see it on your adventures in the forests.
After a long day of mushroom spotting and looking up the many hundreds of different species there are we had a look for other autumnal treasures you can find in the forest.
We are already scoping out holly for our christmas wreath
We love the way moss starts to cover tree stumps and fallen trees making a blanket across the forest
And the leaves that cover the floors creating a patchwork quilt for us to walk on
Once we had explored the forest we ended the day with a warm cup of soup overlooking the nearby fields. We still have a lot to learn about hunting mushrooms and identifying them but we hope this brief look into the world of the woodland floor will inspire you to go out and adventure to find these rather special and magical fungi.
Please do leave any comments you have and if you do find anything you want to share hashtag us on Instagram sarahandthebearadventures
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