The rotting log on the Church Green is covered in a mass of fungi at the moment, mostly Tripe Fungus , Auricularia mesenterica, which is described as 'a fairly common species that forms dense tiers, often laterally fused, on old stumps. (I must admit that it doesn't look much like the tripe I ate in my youth up North and which doesn't seem to exist now in Dorset).

    Tripe Fungus. Photo. John Elliott. Clic to enlarge.    

 On the end of the log, as well as Tripe Fungus, the is also the much commoner King Alfred's Cakes, Daldinia concentrica, which are the globolar, burned looking bits on the lower half of the log 

   King Alfred's Cakes. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

In spite of their name they are classed as 'inedible', as is also the Tripe. We seem to have lost our, once plentyful, Field Mushrooms and the very best of mushrooms, the Parasol Mushroom.

 

Frogs active.

 Nearly at the end of January and signs of spring already. Butterbur and Snowdrops in flower, 

daffodils in bud, the first leaves of Cow Parsely and Lords and Ladies showing through.  My garden pond frogs laid three lots of frog spawn last night. I only hope that we do not have any more severe frost to kill it off, as happpened last year.

 

 

 

 

This years Frog Spawn. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

An Otter was reported in the flooded stream this morning.

 

Rooks.

Rooks preparing for Spring. Photo. J. Elliott. Click to enlarge

The Rooks that nest in the Horse Chestnut outside my bedroom window are now returning from the night roost over the other side of the A35, and each pair slowly pulls the old nest to bits and drops the unwanted sticks, mainly over my drive. That done they will collect new sticks, breaking them off trees all over the village and start a new nest. The difficult bit is getting the first stick to stay in a fork of the branch where last years nest was built. This has been known to take some weeks in past years, presumably with younger, lesser experienced birds. If a stick does fall it is not picked up, but a new one is gathered. 

 

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Early Butterbur.

 Butterbur. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.       

The Butterbur that grows on the bankside by the sewage pumping station is flowering very early again this year, a few days after Christmas instead of a few days before as it was last year.   Climate change or the nutritious overflow from the pumping station when it can't cope? Or perhaps both. The purplish flowers  appear well before the large leaves which were used in pre-plastic days to wrap butter, hence the name. All our plants are 'male', the 'female' occuring mainly in the north of England.

Local Dorset names include 'Early Mushroom' as they look like small button mushrooms as they push through the soil, and 'Snake's Rhubarb'. 

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My Cuckoo Arthur.

Here is the latest bulletin from BTO. Jim, Ashok and Arthur in Gabon Furthest north we find Sussex Cuckoo Jim and our two Suffolk Cuckoos Ashok and Arthur, all in Gabon. Jim and Ashok are in Ivindo National Park, a World Heritage Site for its outstanding biodviersity. Arthur is further east towards the border with Congo. It'll be interesting to see whether these three birds remain in Gabon or move further south and/or east over the coming weeks. The Cuckoos will likely remain in their wintering areas until February, when we will hope to see some movement as they commence their long flights back to Europe for the 2026 breeding season. For some of this Cuckoo cohort, it will be the first time that we get to follow their remarkable journeys north. We will, as always, keep an eye on the Cuckoos and as soon as we see signs that they’re starting to head back we will post updates and track their incredible progress once more! Visit our website for all the latest Cuckoo updates and to track their movements in real time with our live Cuckoo migration map!

Radon Raidioactve Gas Threat.

 

 While it is well known that levels of Radon radioactive gas are high in granite areas to the west of us in Devon and Cornwall, it is not so commonly known that the chalky area in which we live is also subject to high levels of Radon emission. 3% of houses are now considered to be at risk of exceeding safe levels. Older houses with basements are considered to be especially vulnerable. An annual  average level of 200 Becquerels/cubic metre (Bq/m³. one Becquerel is one radioactive decay per second ) is considered to be the level at which action should be taken, usually by a continuously running fan to extract the Radon.

The danger is that the Radon attaches itself to dust particles which are inhaled and remain in the lungs and may cause cancer.  

I have been monitoring the Radon level for a number of years, firstly by the official government test which gave my yearly average as 180 Bq/m³, comfortably below the action level.  I am now running my own monitor which has shown a long term average of about 170 Bq/m³. There is a considerable seasonal variation of the Radon level, but today's short term reading does give me cause for concern.

Radon Monitor.

                                                              

The long term average shown of 169 Bq/m³ is satisfactory, but the short term average (over 7 days) of 466 Bq/m³ which is unusually high, and could lead, in time, to a dangerous level. 

For the government test see  https://www.ukradon.org