We met at RSPB Sandy at 10 am and armed with our cameras, macro lens, lights, tripods etc set off to track down some interesting specimens. Our first stop was for the Birds Nest Fungus unbelievably complex very small structure of a nest attached to a plant stem and a variable number of eggs. There were very large number of Fly Agarics at all stages of existence very picturesque with the autumn tones of the bracken and silver birch leaves. Andrew demonstrated his home-built Focus-stacking equipment included the screw mechanism to advance the focus point of the camera and the electronics box to control the timing and number of shots
We continued onto the heath where we met the Mycological Society members who were recording all the species so they showed us some rarities such as the nail fungus that grows only on the dung of the Dartmoor ponies that graze the area.
We returned to the Visitor Centre for lunch and in the afternoon most of us went down into the quarry to hunt for more specimens and also Slime Moulds as this area is generally damper.
Julia found a Slime mould - a Physarum species. These are very small indeed - not much bigger than a p[in head so a good photographic challenge.
A final stop was made at the logs by the roadside - it was nearly dark by then so we used various lighting systems to add light to the caps etc. Ultraviolet torches gave a very spooky feel to the images - fungi will reflect UV light as bright green or purple depending on the species.
In total 12 people attended the day and the weather stayed dry.
Led by Ann Miles
Photographs Ann Miles, John McCarthy
For more events to attend go to Nature (rps.org)
For Galleries etc go to RPSNature - Galleries
