Dene Park, fungi

 The woods are wetting up well now, at least underfoot.

This is Yellow Stagshorn or Jelly Antler, Calocera viscosa, and I found it on an old stump which could have been Spruce, Douglas Fir or even possibly Yew. 

It does look like Calocera viscosa and as this is limited to conifers, it should be be on one of those three hosts. The fruiting bodies are generally seen on very rotted conifer trunks or logs, some of which may even lie buried in the woodland soil after years of decay.  This possibly fits in with a spruce blown over, say, in the 1987 storm. 

This is the anamorphic (asexual) state of Xylaria hypoxylon, the CandleSnuff Fungus just appearing on an old stump. 

 

This is Yellow Disco, Bisporella citrina, possibly, on a log, just by the east boundary path of Dene Park.

and two closer views, at different magnifications:

Bisporella citrina tends to be found during the second half of the year, generally on debarked logs, particularly beech, possibly oak, depending on which source you are looking at. There may be a few related species. 

Associated with wood-boring beetles, possibly because the beetle larvae, by the activity of their burrowing, assist in the removal of bark from the logs. Bisporella appears to be inhibited by tannins from the bark, which is why Bisporella is generally found on decorticated (de-barked) trunks and logs, . Perhaps reductions in insect numbers might reduce the ability of fungi like Bisporella to rot wood down. Maybe not a bad thing in today's scenarios.

Leafmines on Blackthorn

 Stigmella plagicolella, the "tadpole mine" on Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, along the Access Trail. Frass filled trail suddenly expanding into a blotch mine, usually filled with dispersed granular frass. Larva is yellowish [with a brown head?]. The mine seasons are supposedly July [+ earlier?] and September - October. 

About 8 mines found by the time I got to the Red Pond, at least 3 of them with moving caterpillars inside.