Return of the Frosty Bonnets

A mild and overcast day, with a midday trip to a local hotel to see if  I could book a room for botanists to use in the evenings during the upcoming BSBI Dandelion workshop. They were able to offer a room, but it could only be booked for full days at an exorbitant cost! 

Pete and I had a quick drink in the bar and then headed to Notcutts for lunch - I had a Mediterranean vegetable tart, new potatoes and salad, which was delicious and very good value for money. We were very self-controlled and didn't buy any plants while we were there!

By the time we got back home it was mid-afternoon and the light was already fading. I went for a short walk round Thorpe Wood, which is looking rather forlorn at the end of a hard winter, although Bluebell shoots are now growing rapidly and Robins, Blue Tits and Great Tits were all singing. A flock of Redwings was a nice surprise, tumbling in the tops of the Ash trees.

There wasn't very much to photograph, so I turned over a few logs and found this cluster of Frosty Bonnet underneath one of them. This species can be found at most times of year when conditions are sufficiently damp and mild - the underside of a log must stay warmer and more humid than their usual habitat of mossy tree trunks.