King Alfred's Cakes Fungus

Another photo of King Alfred's cakes fungus, Daldinia concentrica, this time with a section cut out of it to show the characteristic concentric black an white layers.  Note also that this specimen is not as black on the outside as the those in my previous post on this fungus.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-13.

Update on Tue 2010-03-23 by Tristram Brelstaff

For more on this fungus see this post at Phil Gates' Beyond the Human Eye blog.

Crab Spider

A female white crab spider, Misumena vatia (class Arachnida, Araneae: Thomisidae) on wild carrot (Daucus carota).  These spiders ambush insects that visit the flowers, see here for a photo.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-16.

Egyptian Goslings

Earlier this week someone told Zoe that the pair of Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus) on the large lake had goslings, so yesterday morning I went up there to take photos.  There were 6 goslings in all.

Photos taken beside the large lake in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-18.

Orange Jellyspot Fungus

What I think is Dacrymyces stillatus, the orange jellyspot fungus.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-03-13.

Ladybird Larva

From an overcast day last summer: a larva of the 7-spot ladybird, Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-21.