Deceptive weather

Following my last visit to Foxhill Farm I found that my list of invertebrates recorded there totalled 499. There was no way that I could leave things like that so today, with the weather dry and sunny, I set out. However, conditions were deceptive and a brisk north wind soon reddened my nose and cheeks.


I sloshed my way through wet fields and tried my luck beneath a stand of Coast Redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, but with little success. Where wooden fences were sheltered and sunny a few common flies such as Calliphora vicina were gathering. The Calliphora is one of our commonest blowflies and was well recorded. So no luck there.

Perhaps the lichens are of more interest than the fly, here basking in

morning sunshine. Foxhill Farm. 18 November, 2019

Foxhill Farm consists of one large spread of about twenty fields, all given over to sheep. However, another two fields are separated from the main spread by the Daventry to Newnham road. I had briefly visited these fields, also consisting of sheep pasture but, seeing nothing of obvious interest, did no recording. Today I decided to put that right.

Some Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, was growing through a hawthorn hedge. On the rather acid soils of this region Bracken is common but little grows on Foxhill Farm and, as it can sometimes bears interesting galls and leaf miners, I made a mental note to give it some attention next year. Bracken contains a toxic carcinogenic compound and it is surely not a coincidence that Japan, where the young shoots are eaten as a vegetable, has some of the highest stomach cancer rates in the world.

Bracken thrives on the mildly acid soils of the Foxhill Farm area.

18 November, 2019

Blackberries were still ripening although whether they will be able to complete this process with winter approaching is doubtful. If they do ripen they will be eagerly seized upon by hungry birds.





Have they left it too late? Blackberries still ripening at Foxhill Farm.

18 November, 2019

Nearby I was pleased to find a couple of Giant Puffballs, Calvatia gigantea. It is a species that seems to do well on pasture land, perhaps because this land is often rich in phosphates.

Not gigantic, but a satisfyingly large pair of giant puffballs.

Foxhill Farm, Badby, Northants. 18 November, 2019

A better idea of scale is provided by the second photograph, where a sycamore leaf (complete with tar spot fungus) is present. The two specimens weren't particularly large for a species where large specimens have apparently been mistaken sheep (should have gone to Specsavers) but they were impressive enough.

Slugs and fungus flies will soon get to work on it.

An interesting fungus was growing on a rotting gatepost. I suspect it is a Honey Fungus, Armillaria mellea. Honey Fungus is apparently a group of closely related species, tricky even for an expert. As a tyro in this field I'll just refer to the genus sensu lato. 

Honey Fungus (?) on a gatepost at Foxhill Farm. 18 November, 2019

Had I reached 500 species? Just prior to leaving I lifted a sheet of corrugated iron beside a shed to reveal several money spiders and these may include the required extra specimen although, let's be honest, it is only a number. Watch this space.


Postscript  As hoped, these money spiders included the tiny, pale Palliduphantes pallidus. Five hundred up!