Ben Mitchell
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wilde-eep.bsky.social
Ben Mitchell
@wilde-eep.bsky.social
90 followers 24 following 130 posts
Game developer and nature enthusiast.
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wilde-eep.bsky.social
A rather mossy witches' broom <3

#betula #moss #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of a dense ball of twiggy outgrowths half way along a birch branch. Moss overgrowing the upper surfaces.
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A length of wall running along side the ridge of Beinn Bhreac, enclosing a moor called Caladh Leacainn.

#landscape #wintersun #cowal #caladh #argyll #scotland #uk #wall
Photo of a stone wall over undulating terrain with low, winter sunlight.
November 24, 2025 at 8:13 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Spruce root plate.

#tree #picea #roots #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of twisty roots on the underside of a wind-thrown root plate.
November 23, 2025 at 8:56 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Heavy frost, and bright sun, near the top of Beinn Bhreac (454m)

#frost #tussock #wintersun #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of frosty, back-lit tussocks of grass
November 22, 2025 at 6:14 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Grizzled and cracked #FencepostOfTheWeek
Photo of an old fencepost, with rusty barbed wire and a some lichens growing on it.
November 21, 2025 at 8:05 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
One of the pixy cup lichens brightening up an old, grey stone wall.

#lichen #cladonia #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of some irregularly cup-shaped Cladonias with bright red, blobby apothecia budding round the rims.
November 16, 2025 at 7:05 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Nice oaks in some afternoon, November sun.

#oak #intothewoods #wintersun #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of some twisty tree branches with a few yellow leaves catching the westering sun
November 14, 2025 at 8:54 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Found a little grove of slime mould sporangia coming up on cow dung & took a bit home to watch them develop. I think these might be Didymium squamulosum.

#myxomycetes #didymium #slimemould #slimemold #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of some little slime mould sporangia (<1mm) looking like fluffy, white cartoon trees.
November 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Revisiting the place where I found hazel gloves last year. They are back. :-)
Slugs and rodents seem to like them, too.

#fungi #mushrooms #hypocreopsis #hazelgloves #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of a hazel branch with an orange, fingery fungus growing on it photo of some hazel glove fungi with their upper layer chewed off, perhaps by some kind of arbroreal rodent.
November 12, 2025 at 8:45 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A cavernous crater at dusk #FencepostOfTheWeek
Photo of an old fencepost covered in moss and lichen, with central core rotted away.
November 11, 2025 at 8:53 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A fresh clutch of burgundydrop bonnets, Mycena haematopus.

#fungi #mushrooms #mycena #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of a cluster of small, reddish mushrooms growing through a patch of moss
November 10, 2025 at 8:27 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Mystery object from the woods. This one turned out to be an old mushroom with a tiny, white fungus growing all over it. Tilachlidium, perhaps.

#fungi #mushrooms #tilachlidium #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of a dark, round object covered in rosettes of stiff, white hairs
November 9, 2025 at 10:31 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Autumnal oaks in Glendaruel.

#naturephotography #autumn #intothewoods #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of some woodland; yellowing leaves in with low, hazy sunlight.
November 8, 2025 at 7:17 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
These tiny, white mushrooms are very good at trapping water drops with fuzzy hairs that are corkscrew-shaped under a microscope.

#hemimycena #fungi #mushrooms #naturephotography #dewdropbonnet #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of a cluster of very small, white mushrooms; growing on an oak branch. They are covered in tiny drops of water Microscopic image of the surface of a mushroom with squiggly hairs on it. Stained red to make them easier to see.
November 4, 2025 at 2:25 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Another jelly lichen from the back garden; a big, lush colony of Scytinium gelatinosum growing on my door step, where the gutter drips onto concrete.

Scytinium gelatinosum grows well on damp concrete and mortar, but I do see it out in the wild on coastal rocks, too.

#scytinium #jellylichen
close up photo of a well hydrated, translucent, green, frilly lichen.
November 2, 2025 at 7:28 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Now that's some sparkly shit.

#geotrupidae #dorbeetle #faeces #poo #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of a bowel motion on a gravel track, perhaps from a fox. It mostly consists of crushed beetle parts with an iridescent, metallic sheen.
November 1, 2025 at 9:35 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Wrote a blog post about Ricasolia virens, which has somehow managed to be two of my favourite lichens.

wild-e-eep.blogspot.com/2025/10/rica...
Ricasolia virens - Cyanomorph, Chloromorph and Photosymbiodeme
Some lichenised fungi are capable of associating with both cyanobacteria and algae as photosynthetic partners. In some cases the appearance ...
wild-e-eep.blogspot.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:29 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A tiger's eye fungus. Seen growing on the wall of a small cave.

#fungi #mushrooms #coltricia #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of the underside of a fuzzy, little, trumpet-shaped polypore mushroom
October 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Icmadophila ericetorum, the fairy puke lichen (what a name!) It must be quite fast growing to cover ephemeral things like these fallen bracken fronds.

#lichen #icmadophila #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of a blue-green, grainy lichen with pink apothecia growing on a rotting log
October 28, 2025 at 6:56 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Badhamia utricularis rampantly overgrowing some crust fungi on wind-thrown oak branches. <333

#slimemould #slimemold #myxomycetes #cthulucloseups #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of a crowd of pendulous, grape-like slime mould sporangia hanging from the underside of an oak branch. Photo of a yellow slime mould plasmodium flowing from left to right over dead wood, liverworts and crust fungi.
October 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A cluster of honey fungus fruiting bodies on the side of an oak tree, and a crowd of them at the base of the trunk.

#fungi #mushrooms #honeyfungus #armillaria #naturephotography #argyll #scotlant #uk
photo of a tuft of robust, brown and yellow mushrooms growing on a mossy tree trunk
October 25, 2025 at 8:53 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Finally noticed this jelly lichen growing on wooden garden furniture round the back of the house. I've probably been passing it by for years(!) I think it is Scytinium subtile which is rather small, even by jelly lichen standards.
#lichen #jellylichen #scytinium #backyardsafari #argyll #scotland #uk
close-up photo of some crowded button-like apothecia of a tiny jelly lichen
October 23, 2025 at 8:24 AM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Knice knobbly knees on this dead oak branch ^_^

#oak #quercus #deadwood #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
photo of concentric swirls in the wood grain on a long dead oak branch.
October 21, 2025 at 8:53 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
A gorgeous new-to-me slime mould from a rotting ash hulk. I think it keys out to Lamproderma arcyrioides.

#slimemold #slimemould #myxomycetes #lamproderma #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Close up photo of some stalked, iridescent blue slime mould sporangia; each one is less than a millimetre in diameter.
October 20, 2025 at 8:32 PM
wilde-eep.bsky.social
Some super-scaly, young Pholiota squarrosa mushrooms <3

#fungi #mushrooms #Pholiota #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk
Photo of a cluster of small orange mushrooms at the base of an ash tree. They are are covered in a dense coat of bristly scales.
October 19, 2025 at 8:42 PM