Knole Park, Nov 2015

Sika deer in their winter coat.  Kmole Park, November 2015.

Knole Park is full of deer; Fallows and Sika.  These three were by the side of a pond, a lovely spot that is not so easy to find unless you know it's there, because the pond is off the main path, is quite high up and is not overlooked.

I was confused by these because of their winter colouring, but luckily the experts on the iSpot site knew what was what.

It was a drizzly and overcast day.

Pond in Knole Park, November 2015.

I have shown this pond before - here is the same pond last year, on a much sunnier day.

I was hoping to find lots of waxcap fungi, as we did last year, but I only spotted two species.  But I did see a tree covered with fruting bodies of the Hoof Fungus, sometimes called Tinder Fungus, known to have been used as tinder 5,000 years ago.

Fomes fomentarius, Hoof Fungus, in Knole Park, November 2015.

I think this tree must be well known to fungus fans.  It's clearly visible from one of the main paths, and one fruiting body has been sawn off, presumably taken for study.  The one at the top left of this photo is also missing a chunk.

Somewhat less obvious was this small but pretty yellow fungus in the short grass.

Clavulinopsis corniculata, Meadow Coral.   Knole Park, November 2015.

The books say this Meadow Coral is common, but I do not actually see it very often.  The same is true of many other species!

I also checked out the western wall of the enclosed gardens, where two years ago there was a good display of ferns, polypodies and at least one Black Spleenwort.  But a year ago they looked unhealthy, and now they have all dried up and disappeared.  Shame!