Dryad’s Saddle and a big surprise.

This is Dryad’s Saddle, Polyporus squamosus.

A Dryad is a tree nymph in Greek Mythology. I have never seen on but I keep an eye open in the woods. This bracket fungus plays an important role in decomposing dead wood. It does not live for very long as it is eaten by maggots and other insects. But it frequently comes back on the same wood for a number of years which helps in finding it.
It is widely distributed in many parts of the world.

And the surprise ?  We have been retired here for 29 years and thought we knew every footpath in our  8 miles x 6 miles Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  Yet this morning we found a network of footpaths we had never walked before. Lush meadows, woodland and fine individual trees, streams and ponds and lots of flowers and insects. The weather was perfect and it all just made our day.
And there were farmyard geese, see extra.