Scuttle Fly

From last September: a scuttle fly, possibly a Peromitra sp (Diptera: Phoridae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-09-30.

Grey Disco Fungus

A grey disco fungus, probably a Mollisia sp.  It looks different from the one I saw a year ago, which had dark grey centres and white edges.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-02-18.

Two Signs of Good Science Reporting

Ed Yong:

... Regular readers will know that I don’t write from press releases, ...

Ben Goldacre:

... I really think a reference to the original research is important, ...

It would be nice if there was a science news aggregator that only included articles conforming to these two principles.

Crust Fungus

From last winter: another crust fungus, this time possibly Phlebia rufa.  See here for another photo of this species that I took earlier this year.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-02-11.

Tarcrust Fungus

What I think is a tarcrust fungus, possibly Eutypa spinosa (Spiral tarcrust fungus).  This was growing on decaying beech logs just a metre away from the log that I found the 'black hand fungus' on.  The little black spheres have a rough texture.  Where the tree bark has fallen off, they can form large 'rafts', as shown above; where the bark is still in place they can peep out through cracks like this:

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-02-12 and 2011-02-14, respectively.