Tessera

The ash trees may be dying, but there is still a lot to like about this ravine. #ravine #landscapephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of a dank, ferny ravine with a cascade and a moribund ash tree.

The forest floor was studded with thousands of tiny, white mushrooms. These are Hymenoscyphus fraxineus - the fungus that causes ash die-back disease. #hymenoscyphus #ashdieback #ash #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of stalked, translucent off-white cup-fungi mostly about 1mm diameter.

photo of the woodland floor, several fine ash twigs are visible - all of them sprouting small, white mushrooms

Deep in a tangly spruce plantataion. These trees were blown over by a storm about 25 years ago but they didn't die. They just grew up again from side branches. #moss #intothewoods #windthrow #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of a thick tangle of mossy spruce trees

19 months of development on this fantastic dead end sign. November 2024 -> June 2026. #lichen #moss #naturephotography #signage #argyll #scotland #uk

Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · last mo.

A tiny mushroom with sparse, spiky hairs projecting from its cap. Mycena aciculata, I think. #fungi #mushrooms #mycena #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Close up of a small, delicate mushroom sprouting from a mossy log. The cap and stem are bristling with fine, perpendicular hairs.

Harbour seals putting in a hard shift at the loaf factory, Inchmarnock. #phoca #seal #wildlifephotography #inchmarnock #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of five harbour seals hauled out on a weedy seashore; one swimming by in the foreground.

Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · last mo.

A rusty crescent #FencepostOfTheWeek

photo of a weathered fencepost at sunset with a detached, rusty metal bracket perched on top.

Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · last mo.

Behold! A horwort. <<<3 It's my first time seeing one and I am delighted ^_^ #anthocerotophyta #hornwort #naturephotography #bryophytes #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Close-up photo of a green, lobey hornwort with a few horn-shaped excresences.

Even more close-up photo of a hornwort with a few rounded moss-leaves on the right.

Pilobolus kleinii, I think. One of the dung cannon fungi. #fungi #pilobolus #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk #dungcannon #hatthrower

Photo of a crowd of long stalked, transparent fungi growing on dung. Each stalk ends in a turgid swelling with a black, sticky cap on top.

Big volume #FencepostOfTheWeek #moss #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a fenceline through lush, boggy ground. The central fencepost has a large, shaggy mop of moss sprouting from its top.

Photo of the top of a fencepost covered in moss.

Puccinia albescens, a rust fungus, growing all over these townhall clock plants. (Photos from April.) #adoxa #puccinia #rustfungi #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of some flower-like rust fungus aecia errupting from the underside of a leaf

photo of some flower-like rust fungus aecia errupting from the underside of a leaf. A scale below the photo indicates that they are less than 1mm wide.

Photo of a townhall clock plant, heavily infected with rust fungus.

Close-up photo of a townhall clock flower with a rust fungus growing on it.

Alder fly sitting on the fence. #sialis #alderfly #insect #wildlifephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of an alder fly on fencewire. Its antennae are waving about producing blurred double images in the focus stack.

Tongue and Groove #FencepostOfTheWeek Not sure that's how you're supposed to do it but whatever works... #fencepost #moss #lichen #LonghornBeetle #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a mossy old fencepost with two planks attached to it. Ouf of focus longhorn beetle looking on from the left.

Auspicious signs, Inverary! They even left the reverse blank for your personal message... ^_^ #lichen #argyll #scotland #uk #signage #HereBeLichens

A wooden signpost with "<- Caravan Park / Wildlife Park / Golf Course" written on it. It is weathered and covered in lichen making it hard to read.

Photo of a blank wooden sign, weathered and covered in lichen. It has been faked to read "Here be Lichens"

Buff-tip moth from Achnabreac near Lochgilphead yesterday. A close look at some of the different scale/hair shapes contributing to its fancy get-up. #phalera #moth #buff-tip #insect #wildlifephotography #lepidoptera #argyll #scotland #uk

photograph of a buff-tip moth: a broken stick mimic.

No butterfly; only lichen! ^_^ #platismatia #lichen #anthrocharis #camouflage #orangetip #lepidoptera #insects #wildlifephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of an orange tip butterfly perched on top of a rag lichen. The pattern on the butterfly's wings closely matches the intricate shape of the lichen.

So many bones. A thick layer of detritus from the bottom of a barn owl nest box. #bones #nest #owl #argyll #scotland #uk #naturephotography

Photo of a thick scattering of bones - the skulls of small rodents being the most salient. They are embedded in a mat of blackish, decomposing fur and partly greened-over with algae.

A splendid male adder, ready for action on the 23rd April. This year I missed all the action :'( #adder #snake #reptile #herps #naturephotography #vipera #argyll #scotland #uk #snake_cw

photo of a black and white snake with a blood-red eye, on stony ground in harsh sunlight.

A fascinating little ruin I found next to the Stowhall Burn above Acharossan. A corn kiln, perhaps. #argyll #scotland #uk

Smooth, wiggly algae going with the flow. If I look at them under a microscope, I'm sure they'll be even flowier and wigglier, right?

Fishbone lichen enjoying a bit of a breeze. #lichen #argyll #scotland #uk #usnea

A couple of jaunty sea-side lichens having a tussle. I think I've got Xanothoria aureola in yellow and Anaptychia runcinata in brown (it goes a lovely avocado green colour when well hydrated.) #lichen #anaptychia #xanthoria #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a mix of yellow and brown lichen lobes spreading over a rock.

What have we been finding in West Cowal? Lots of groovy things. Here's the report: www.inaturalist.org/posts/127579... #biologicalrecording #inaturalist #temperaterainforest #cowal #argyll #naturephotography

You Never Know What You Might Find! - Returning to West Cowal's Rainforest.

_The Kyles of Bute core area of rainforest, West Cowal. credit:_ @ian_dow Since the __Argyll Countryside Trust (ACT)__ launched the West Cowal Rainforest Habitat Regeneration - Biological Recording Pr...

inaturalist.org

A wonderful little common rough woodlouse - Porcellio scaber. #woodlouse #porecllio #wildlifephotography #glenan #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of a woodlouse standing on a mossy tree trunk

Some lovely, leathery textures on this very fresh cabbage white chrysalis. <3 (from last August) #pieris #lepidoptera #insect #wildlifephotography #chrysalis #galloway #scotland #uk

Photo of a rather glossy chrysalis attached to a whitewashed stone wall.

closer view of some of the textures on the same chrysalis

I've been seeking out a tiny lichen called Arctomia - it has beautiful deep red apothecia and is one of the many denizens of lush mini-jungles that form in the canopy of liverwort mats on tree trunks in danker woodlands in these parts. #arctomia #liverworts #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

close up photo of some red frullania liverworts with a host of smaller things growing in amongst them

Always check your stumps. ^_^ #slimemold #myxomycetes #slimemould #metatrichia #argyll #scotland #uk