fungal induced habitat

[Gary Prentice]

'Luck' that's been 32 years in the making

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

"Good things come to those who wait"

I'm still waiting!

 

and;

"Good luck comes to those who deserve it"

Maybe why I'm still waiting:lol:

[David Humphries]

Old lapsed oak pollard that's long time colonised by the slow brown rot decay of Fistulina hepatica

 

 

 

A number of the scaffold poles have been pruned out or failed over the last few decades.

 

As the Fistulina (and others) slowly turn the heart wood brittle, the wood volume eventually becomes cavitated by time, avian and mammal displacement of the decayed material.

 

The hollow is now home to a family of tawny owls.

 

One of them was playing peekaboo with me today.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gary Prentice]

You have some 'unusual' playmates, David.

Terrific photos

[sean]

Fantastic tree, habitat......oh and photos.

[sean]

Jackdaw nesting in cavity of an Oak in Savernake Forest. don't know how many chicks were in there but they were bloody noisy.

[David Humphries]

Very nice capture Sean, heard it was a good day down there.

 

 

 

.

[sean]

Very nice capture Sean, heard it was a good day down there.

 

 

 

.

 

Really good day. Beautiful place.

[David Humphries]

Fistulina hepatica and the saprotrophic ringless honey fungus (Armillaria tabescens) here on this dead standing oak.

 

We appeared to wake up one of its inhabitants after tapping on the trunk with the sounding hammer. (last image)

good job we didn't use the micro drill until the furry thing scurried off as we may have accidentally skewered it

 

 

 

 

Highlights the importance of checking loose bark before working on dead trees

 

 

 

[David Humphries]

A still image from a great video of the Knepp rewilding project that Ted Green shared earlier that shows a lesser spotted wood pecker feeding in the decayed wood volumes created by the colonisation of the red banded polypore, (Fomitopsis pinicola)

 

 

 

video link here.....

 

https://knepp.co.uk/rewildingkneppvideo/

 

 

.

[David Humphries]

Split leaning willow that we had reduce due to being with in falling distance of a property.

 

 

Lower section of trunk has been retained standing, but the upper section had to go.

 

Probable Laetiporus heart decay has been 'sounded out' by a woodpecker for a potential bit of future habitat.