Dry Spy

The woodland and woodland fringe fungal communities of Red Rise appear to have faired far better than their more exposed community neighbours on the open heathland and lawn of Spy Holms. It's by no means been a bumper mushroom season in the forest, though some woodland inhabitants like Chicken of the Woods, Beefsteak and Oysters have been well represented, the Boletes were respectable and there are plenty of Hedgehog mushrooms too (as have loads of other mushrooms/fungi).  It's a very different story on the adjacent exposed open lawn and heath. Usually covered in a really diverse community, this year...nought!  Or near nought. I've seen two Parasols, when commonly it would dozens, no Wax Caps, no Puffballs, no Liberty Caps, and very little beyond. Where normally you'd have to look where you're stepping, you can look but there's nothing to see, it's barren.  Drier autumns don't do mushrooms any service, I hope they don't become too frequent.

Wax Caps

Wax Caps look like the kind of mushrooms which lurked in the backgrounds of fairy tale illustrations, appearing as they do in a bewildering array of vibrant colours and hues.  Sometimes they even look artificial.  They're a common sight in the autumn forest on the exposed short grass lawns and around the woodland edges. This example 'I think' is a Hygrocybe miniata or maybe a Scarlet Hood (Hygrocybe coccinea), though I think the former is most probable.  Of the extensive Wax Cap family some are edible, some are not, and some are classified as 'edibility unknown'; even the edible group varies, for example  H. coccinea 'edible good' whereas H. miniata 'edible not recommended'. Any mushroom group like Hygrocybe which are easily misidentified through subtle colour changes and weathering are most definitely off my wild food menu. Groovy things to see, mind.