The Wonderful World Of Moss

So many times while out walking,there are many things that we pass that we never really notice,the plants of the moss family being a perfect example, in February and March the moss is at its most spectacular with its greenery standing out in all its varied shades from every tone of green to a fiery red ,the name moss is from Latin/Greek meaning "against fire" .

Moss is so simple yet so complex its one of the few plants that do not extract water or nutrients from its roots ,so is never parasitic and does its host whether a living tree ,dead branch or stone no harm at all.

Moss has no internal water bearing vessels or veins and no flowers as well as no fruits,cones or seeds and they absorb all water and nutrients through there small delicate leaves using sunlight and daylight to create food through photosynthesis.

Mosses breed by producing spore bearing capsules on long stalks.
Over the generations moss has had many uses from simple bedding to early nappies as the absorbency is incredible,from when dried as a tinder, to lining many birds nests ,in the first and second  world war it was used to dress wounds as it was found to be anti bacterial and antiseptic and was often used with ramsons (wild garlic) as this was one of the most antiseptic and wound cleansing plants found out in the wilds.

So over the next 8 weeks while out and about please keep your eyes open and wonder of the colours and complexity of this amazing plant.

huge oyster mushrooms over 10"across

early flowering lesser celandine

While photographing this piece i also came across many stunning fungi and early signs of spring please enjoy this set of pictures.

king Alfred's cakes fungi

oyster mushroom and scarlet elf cup fungi

Hope you enjoyed the post and will be back soon with more of the wonderful nature all around us     nature man Andy

Down Brockholes Way

chewed up tree branch

Out early this morning with bad weather forecast later in the day ,i parked up behind Preston crematorium and had not gone 50 yards before spotting chewed up tree branches a sure sign of roe deer activity ,my sudden movement caused a tawny owl to take up that in turn caused a sparrowhawk also to take to the wing.

Jew's ear fungi

Making my way down the track Jews ear fungi appeared as if by magic,mixed in with coral spot and king Alfred's cakes ,robins and wrens sang of my approach and a noisy jay sounded his displeasure about being disturbed .

fox track

badger toilet

male roe deer track

badger tracks

Once in to the mixed woodland a pathway of tracks emerged from male roe deer to fox and badger with the highlight being a recently used badger toilet .Overhead a buzzard cried out as he was being mobbed by a family of rooks his cries piercing the still air this in turn causing wood pigeons to flutter there clumsy flight through the tangled branches .

scarlet elf cup fungi

At the head of the secret path i found what i had been looking for as the woodland floor showed off its treasures in the form of scarlet elf cups a most wonderful coloured fungi that starts life as a tiny red blob but then opens out to a wonderful scarlet red colour.

dead mens fingers

At brockholes itself goldfinches greeted me as they flew past there golden flashes glinting in the sun,redwing and fieldfares also flew by in the lower woods dead mans finger fungi was present as well as sulphur tuft and coral spot fungi
as i made my weary way back to my car a sudden movement showed a family of roe deer making there way in to the woods just too far away to take a picture of and a sudden movement to my left saw a white ghostly barn owl glide in to the thickets ,we are so blessed with wildlife in this wonderful country i hope to share more with you soon   nature man Andy.

A walk in the woods

The first signs of spring are upon us i was greeted this morning by two flowering lesser celadine, the yellow petals responding to the warm taste of weak sunshine ,my mind made up i drove to brock bottoms over beacon fell with the road verges full of flowering yellow gorse ,parking up in front of the bird tables that had just been filled with seed a splendid sight of blue tits ,great tits ,chaffinches ,robins ,nuthatches and a fantastic family of long tailed tits. The trees where full of moss glistening in the dew and as i made my way in to the woods i found a recent kill by probably a sparrowhawk, feathers scattered over the floor the badger and deer tracks where numerous, and newly emerged heads of ransoms [wild garlic] where every where i looked, as where the bluebell shoots and those of wood sorrell and anenomes, a woodpecker could be heard hammering away ,early flies enjoying life, as the spiders slowly wake up flittered in the weak sunshine ,only spotted 4 spiders webs,patches of snow drops littered the pathway as did early dandelion and dock leaves, fungi spotted where beech polypore ,king alfreds cakes ,multi zoned polypore and turkey tail as i made my way back to my car a real pleasure appeared as if by magic, as first a female then male dipper with his white bib sang out to there hearts content as they dipped away on there chosen river rocks,  a fine display on a wonderful morning.