This was a truly amazing day of fungi photography at three locations in the Blue Mountains. Most of our time was spent at Coachwood Glen on the Megalong Road close to Blackheath.
Hygrocybe roseoflavida
I had travelled up the mountains by train to meet Liz at Springwood. Atli was coming up with us, but I had unfortunately told him the wrong train to catch. So while we were waiting Liz and Myself headed off to nearby Birdwood Guly to see what was out.
Mycena interrupta
Birdwood Gully
Birdwood Gully is on the north side of Springwood, and in many ways plays second fiddle to Sassafras Gully on the south side – which is not only a deeper valley but also a much larger area. But Birdwood Gully often has interesting fungi. In particular, it is a good place to see Toothed Jelly Fungus. A tree near the track and a log near one of the bridges always seem to be good after rain.
On our short visit we were not disappointed. The Toothed Jelly was out and I was able to take some photos of it.
Not that much other fungi was out – we did find a few red waxcaps and some boletes.
We also found a nice cluster of orchids.
More photos of Birdwood Gully are online here.
Coachwood Glen
Eyelash Fungi – Scutellinea scutellata
Coachwood Glen is probably one of the best locations for fungi in the Blue Mountains. It is nice rainforest and is sheltered from winds and the sun for much of the day. So after rain, it stays moist for a long time. Liz had visited the area a few days before and reported that the fungi was very good and had encouraged us to come up and see for ourselves. We were not disappointed.
Hericium coralloides
We found a truly amazing display of the most colourful and beautiful fungi. Much of it still fresh. We stayed till the late afternoon, when the lack of light made finding fungi difficult.
Dead Mans Fingers – Xylaria castorea
Here are some of the waxcaps we saw –
Gliophorus graminicolor
Hygrocybe apricosa
Hygrocybe astatogala
Perhaps Hygrocybe hypospoda
Hygrocybe roseoflavida
Hygrocybe roseoflavida
Hygrocybe roseoflavida
Hygrocybe iropus
Hygrocybe iropus
Hygrocybe iropus
Hygrocybe miniata
Hygrocybe xanthopoda
Hygrocybe xanthopoda
Hygrocybe xanthopoda
Hygrocybe polychroma
Humidicutis helicoides
Humidicutis helicoides
Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata
Cuphophyllus virgineus
Gliophorus chromolimoneus
Porpolomopsis lewelliniae
Hygrocybe erythrocrenata
Hygrocybe austropratensis
Humidicutis taekeri
Hygrocybe aurantiopallens
Hygrocybe cantherellus
Here are some of the coral fungi –
And some of the other fungi –
I have a lot more photos taken at Coachwood Glen online here.
Blackheath Airstrip
With fading light, we departed from Coachwood Glen and headed back to Blackheath. The light on the plateau was still OK so we then headed out along Hat Hill Road to Blackheath Airstrip. This had long been abandoned for aviation purposes and is now partly a housing estate and partly a dog walking area. It seems an unlikely place to find fungi. Nevertheless, another friend, Gemma, who does use the area for walking her dog had been recently finding some nice fungi. She had shown these to Liz and Liz was happy to show them to us. Here are some of what we saw –
I have more photos from Blackheath Airstrip online here.