2/6/14

Despite my resolve to concentrate on birds and flowers this year I was diverted by another fungus. It is one I had previously done as an etching. It is a Coprinus lagopus or the Hare’s Foot Inkcap. I  suppose it is called that because it has a white furry stem and the gills turn black as they age. The cap looks like a torn parasol, splitting as it matures. That doesn’t sound very attractive. It’s the delicacy and the long fragile pure white stem that I like.

I am deeply disappointed in the clearfell area. I had been looking forward to a spectacular show of foxgloves. There were so many plants throughout the autumn and winter. Then there was what  I can only assume was a late frost and as I walked across the field all I could see were clusters of  brown crinkled clumps where the green furry whorls of leaves  had been. The devastation was so focussed that at first I thought it must have been weed killer but why would anyone  spray just the foxgloves? Everything else seemed unscathed.

Breckland has an unusual climate and frosts have been recorded in August although  I haven’t experienced that. An open field can often attract a much sharper frost than the surrounding land but why only the foxgloves? The Climbing Corydalis escaped unscathed and now they are scrambling about carpeting the  ground with their delicate red straggling stems, frothy leaves and palest green clusters of tiny pea flowers. Why would they not succumb to the frost when the foxgloves did?

I was relieved when the foxgloves started to recover. Plants are resilient. Green shoots pushed their way through the crumpled brown  and flowers have started to appear. They are smaller and later than they would have been but the urge to reproduce isn’t easily defeated. These foxgloves lay dormant for decades while  pine trees grew over them  then emerged after the trees were harvested  three years ago.

I don’t understand why they put on such a poor show last year compared to the  year before either. I know they are biennial but there must have been some seeds in the soil which could have come up without having to wait for a new batch to be produced. The same thing happened with the Verbascum. They didn’t flower last year. They should produce blooms this summer. There are lots of  rosettes of their silky silver leaves emerging if they can manage to fight their way through the vicious thistles that are thrusting through the grass everywhere.

At least the thistles provide food for the Goldfinches. I saw a flock of them feeding on these patches of thistles last autumn. It seems the number of Goldfinches has increased , unlike other birds. I think it is because people are feeding them sunflower and niger seeds. They  consume about five kilos a week from our bird feeders.   

The grasses are shimmering purple and yellow and every shade of green but they remain a mystery to me. My attempts at grass recognition have been unsuccessful. I cannot find a book which has photographs or even coloured pictures. I know I should be approaching them the proper botanical way with a key but the birds are challenging enough for me at present so I  am just enjoying the grass effects.