Frodsham to Helsby

Today we parked the car at Beacon car park on Frodsham Hill and walked part of the Sandstone trail towards Alvanley, and then made our way over Helsby Hill and back through Woodhouses and Foxhill arboretum. It was another beautiful autumnal day, our Sunday walks certainly seem to be blessed at the moment! There was plenty of bird activity, with lots of Goldcrests, Nuthatches, Redwings and tits, and larger birds included Raven and Buzzard.


We sat on a bench in a beautiful sunny glade in the middle of an ancient woodland and ate our lunch. It was almost like summer again in this sheltered spot, with warm sunshine and Robins and Wrens singing. I found this interesting looking green fungus under an Oak tree, which looks like Common Earthball Scleroderma citrinum, though that species isn't normally green.


Also basking in the sunshine were a couple of Comma butterflies and this old female Common Darter. In fact there was plenty of insect activity in the glade, with lots of hoverflies feeding on the ivy flowers.


This is a good time of year to see bracket fungus, and Birch Polypore Piptoporus betulinus is one of the commonest. The brown fungus is (I think!) Southern Bracket Ganoderma australe and is one of the largest I have ever seen, approximately 60cm across!