Fungus

Dead moll's fingers fungus, Xylaria longipes.  The one on the right has been nibbled, probably by a mouse or a squirrel (would a slug climb all the way to the top before starting to nibble?).

I prepared a microscope slide of the spores using the method given here and this is the result (at x600):

These spores are roughly 1.5 times the length of the spores of Peniophora quercina shown here.  This, and the shape shown above, is consistent with the description given for X .longipes which includes 'Spores 13-15 x 5-7 um; smooth; fusiform' (fusiform = spindle-shaped, ie: pointed at both ends).

At first I assumed this fungus to be Xylaria polymorpha but that has 20-31 x 5-10um spores, which would be 2 to 3 times as long as those of P. quercina.  This is clearly not the case with the spores in the above image.

First photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-15.

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.