What did I find in the forest?

It’s Friday people! Everyone loves Fridays, as it’s the beginning of the weekend. My weekend already started yesterday afternoon and today I have been busy doing laundry, shopping, watering my plants, cooking and cleaning kitchen.

The very new reason why I started looking forward to Friday is to post my beloved mushrooms in #FungiFriday community, created by @ewkaw , as well as indulge myself in many beautiful posts of this particular community. What new mushrooms will I discover today through the eyes of members of this amazing community? Who knows? I’m sure excited to find out 🤩

Although I have 1000’s of mushroom pictures in my photo gallery, I keep taking new ones! I know, I’m crazy. Definitely crazy about mushrooms. They are peculiar beings with the mycelium network penetrating pretty much the whole Earth. I feel like once you consume them once, you’re forever intimately connected to that network and you begin to hear whispers of them, calling you out to come and find them.

It’s not just my personal opinion. I heard statements like this from many fungi lovers. They even come into our dreams and are always up to some mischief.

One of my biggest discoveries once I started visiting British woodlands are those amazing #CoralMushrooms. I’ve never seen them back in Poland. Although it must have been my ignorance, because this year I saw a few of those in the Polish forests I visited with my auntie.

What I love about them the most is that bright colour! You can see them from far away because of that colour. And their shape! It’s like being underwater and exploring coral reef without actually going underwater. Truly fascinating.

I’m not sure about these, but in general bright colours in nature are to warn creatures not to eat them, as they might have a deadly effect on the eater. I guess that’s why I always find them untouched, in pristine condition.

Their favourite place to grow is on dead tree trunks. Not only does it make a beautiful stage for taking pictures, but like all fungi these help in recycling all dead matter into a rich compost for other beauties to grow in. Big or small, I truly love them all 😍

There is also a white variety of those coral mushrooms in our forests. They’re beautiful too, but I’m sure you too can see just how much colour adds to their beauty. The difference is striking.

I know… this is not a mushroom, but I do love to capture other interesting views while on my fungi hunts. This time of the year the weather can be really stormy in England. Some older and not so healthy trees don’t make it through another storm. Hopefully it didn’t kill any creatures on its way down…

Or did it? Because I have found some bones around the fallen tree. First time that I came across bones laying around the forest like this. It must have been quite a sizeable animal. I felt like an archeologist for a moment.

Although I very quickly realised that I couldn’t be one. I cringed a little as I approached the bones to take some pictures from up close. There were still some remains of this animal’s dead body attached to the bones.

Uhh, let’s get back to mushrooms! Those growing on dead trees are mostly not edible, but they sure rather beautiful. Like those here… I mean how many mushrooms can squeeze into one tree trunk?! Clearly a lot of them as you can see here. Together they create an incredible mosaic and give rainbow-like feeling, although they Don’t have as many colours as real rainbows 😉

I love also the ivy branches making room for themselves in between those mushrooms. They sure wanna be first in queue for that fertile compost that will soon replace that tree trunk. Together with moss they all coexist beautifully on one tree trunk. Humans could learn a lot just by watching and copying the nature.

I took many pictures of those, but as you can see I am no photographer. I wanted to capture mushrooms, but instead the trees took the focus 🤷🏻‍♀️

Not this interesting creature:

I mean, what is it? I absolutely love this. When I look at it up close it’s like 100’s of tiny start connected to wrap around some dead matter.

When I saw it for the very first time and from some distance I got fouled that it’s been snowing in the forest. Only as I came closer I realised mother nature is playing tricks with me. It’s a snow-like fungi!

Ok, ok, I’m almost done for today. I know, I love to talk a lot. So just a few more captures of some random most likely un-edibles for you.

Although cheerful looking fella’s you must admit 😉

And let me finish with my attempt of capturing the spikes of edible Hedgehog mushroom. They’re an acquired taste as my friend would say. For me they’re like salmon - I love the taste of it, but I wouldn’t eat it everyday. The taste is that particular for me. Not for my ex though! He was never tired of running to that forest to pick as many as he could carry and then eat them every single day with eggs! He was simply that amazed that he can go and pick free food 😍 Like a discovery of his century!

Right, enough from me for today. Happy Fungi Friday to all fungi lovers out there and if you’re new here and would appreciate some guidance, here is a place to be and learn - #TheTerminal 💙

Until next time 💙