David Humphries

No problems with the Meindls down here in the balmy south Dave, perhaps you should get some of these to warm your wee tootsies. Probably not so great with spikes though

Que? Me no comprendhe amigo .

A 34m storm failed beech lunge

Robin that stalked us at work .

Quality splits chaps .

Oak with the white rot of Ganoderma australe providing the ideal conditions for a woodpecker to tap out a Des Res. Albeit quite low down for a Picus. .

14th new tree host (poplar) is just off the site by a few meters, in a private garden. Wondering if the spore that started this particular colonisation was from one of our trees, or whether its perhaps endemic across the local area. .

Fir that has both the very rare Pulveroboletus (Buchwaldoboletus) lignicola and the more common Phaeolus schweinitzii Unceremoniously spanked by Doris .

Love how roots are so interconnected in forests. .

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Thanks for the further info & images Tim, appreciated .

Fine piece of dismantling work Mr Pine, and enjoyed the ambient sounds. Buttresses looked fairly flared, although there didn't appear to be significant decay in the felling cut. Any noted lower down? .

Nice Ozonium with the Coprinus Mr Girdle .

Suspect your observation is true Kev. It's relatively small, but the pictures are a little deceptive. I should have perhaps put some scale in the shots. Trouble with working weekends on me tod, there's no handy arb accessories to use as scale ! .

Beech with long colonisation by Ganoderma pfeifferi Succumbed to the decay of the pfeifferi and wind load of the recent storm. Francis Schwarze notes that the white rot decay is by selective delignification and that the decayed volumes can have strikingly dark, reddish brown regions. The decay has spread quite high up the trunk This old pruning wound from about 2.5m up has a small bracket protruding and its mycelium is active behind the wound surface. For more images of the pfeifferi fruit bodies see the galleries in the fungi directory Ganoderma pfeifferi - Bees wax bracket - David Humphries’s Fungi Directory - Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists .

A healthy appetite for some of the more challenging aspects of tree work Large beech that felt the wrath of Doris Early colonisation of an (unknown) white rot decay species in some of the roots .

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/83318-can-anyone-please-help-serious-accident.html .

Lucky this one didn't go the opposite way. Busy London tube and bus terminus. Had Ganoderma spp on it for at least the last five years that I can recall. .

Travelling between sites today and just turned off the M40 near Beaconsfield when I spied an explosion of fruiting bodies on a beech from a fair way down the road. Turned out to be a long term colonisation of Inonotus cuticularis We took a closer look with the hammer and noted a minute shear crack that had freshly opened up from yesterday's storm. Due to its considerable basal decay, lean toward an A road and the newly developed crack I got on the phone to Buckinghamshire Highways Authority. Although they had somewhere in the region of 80 roadside trees reported during the storm across the county they informed me that they would be sending an inspector out within two hours to assess for removal. I suspect it wouldn't have taken too long to have made the right call on this tree, so hoping it gets felled over the next couple of days. Surprised it's taken a random drive by from us to spot and report what is quite clearly an historical significant hazard to the road users. .

It was indeed ! Had the distinct impression we were being watched this week....... .

The judgement from this case is being shared across various sources. Roadside Trees | Local Government Law Bus driver crushed by tree in his cab wins damages claim against council - Worthing Herald I find it most interesting that the 'National Tree Safety Group Guidance 'Common sense risk management of trees' is not seen as being relevant or even mentioned in the case notes? Section 23 only mentions these four documents as being available to land owners providing guidance. DoT (2005) Well maintained Highways Code of Practice, HSE Sector Information Minute (2007), FC Practice Guide (2000) Hazards form Trees DoE Circular Roads 52/75 Inspection of Highway Trees. Surely it should have been mentioned by the three ‘expert’ witnesses so that Judge Macduff could have made a reasonable assessment of the facts and make a fully relevant judgement. The authors of the NTSG guidance must wonder at times why did they bother .

Update on this case Bus driver crushed by tree in his cab wins damages claim against council - Worthing Herald .

Team stayed after hours to deal with any other wind related failures and we ended up getting a call to go check out a moving Poplar. Leaning heavily and had what may have been an historical shear crack. Although leaning away from an external road it was directly above a well used foot path so it needed dealing with. Team leader Ali nipped up and crashed out the poles. .

With the predicted strong winds today (gusting up to 70+ mph across London) we decided to keep the lockable parks at work closed today, (main body of the Heath is open access) undoubtedly this would have upset some of the local runners and dog walkers but it was a good decision. .

The rhizomorphs may well be of a different and more benign Armillaria species, presence of the boot laces doesn't always mean that it's the parasitic mellea. .