Eccleston Mere

Woodcock 1 flushed from woods at the end of the stream.
Goldfinch 40
Buzzard 1
Tufted Duck 4


This is a fungus called King Alfred's Cake Daldinia concentrica. It grows primarily on fallen Ash trees, and is quite common. With Ash die back now threatening to wipe out most of our Ash trees, it's an example of how our wildlife will be adversly affected. I would guess that we can expect King Alfred's Cake to become extremely common in the short to medium term, but once the Ash trees have disappeared, the fungus will presumably become pretty rare itself. What could be more British than King Alfred's Cake, but how many people will mourn the demise of this fungus, or even notice its passing????


There were many thousands of tiny fish in the steam today, virtually the entire width of the stream for about 50 yards was crammed tight with fish!