Moth

From back in August: tortrix moth Pandemis corylana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).  A bit over-exposed.

Photo taken Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-08-18.

Bracket Fungus

What it think is blushing bracket fungus, Daedaleopsis confragosa, growing on a dead branch of a willow tree (Salix sp). 

The underside looks like this:

And the spores (prepared by the method given here) look like this at x600:

These spores are smaller and thinner than those of Peniophora quercina, which is roughly consistent with the 'cylindric 8–11 x 2–3um' given here.

The first photo and the specimen were take in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-15.

Venus and the Moon

From last Tuesday morning: planet Venus and the crescent Moon in the pre-dawn sky.  Mercury should have been visible a few degrees to the lower left of Venus, but I did not notice it at the time and so did not include it in the image.

Photo taken in Reading, UK, on 2012-12-11.

Yellow Fungus on Grass

From back in summer-time: a yellow crust on a grass stem.  Initially I assumed this was the eggs of some insect but now I think it is a fungus of genus Epichloe, possibly Epichloe typhina.

Photo taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-07-15.

Crust Fungus

Netted crust fungus Byssomerulius corium growing on the underside an oak twig.  Note the characteristic pitted surface and curled-over edges.  The twig was about 2cm thick.

I prepared a slide of the spores using the same technique I used for Peniophora quercina.  The above image (x600) shows the spores to be rounded cylinders, noticably shorter than those of P. quercina but similar in width.  This is roughly consistent with the descriptions given at Mycobank which can be summarized by 'cylindrical to subcylindrical to ellipsoid, 4.5-9 x 2.3-4.5 um'.

The original specimen was taken from Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-06.