Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
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Something creepy with tentacles
Ineke de Hart was walking at the Steegerf in the Loonse and Drunense dunes and saw something creepy, with tentacles. She dared to take a photo because she saw that the tentacles were not moving. If you look very closely at the photo, you will see that this mushroom has a white base from which those five orange arms protrude. We are dealing with a special mushroom here: the squid mushroom.
Squid mushrooms belong to the stink mushroom family. Initially there is a green, slightly slimy mass on the orange arms that gives off a carcass odor. In principle, you will encounter such a greenish slimy mass on all stink mushrooms. Squid fungi were originally found in Australia and Tasmania and were first discovered in Europe in 1921. The Australian army probably brought traces of these special stink fungi with them during the First World War. The squid mushrooms, like all other stink mushrooms, hatch from a type of egg, the so-called devil’s egg. From that egg, the squid fungus hatches from four to seven slender long arms. They are still connected to each other in the beginning. Later they let go and fall to the bottom.
Which dead bird was on the beach at Renesse?
Stefan van den Boom found a dead bird washed up on the beach near Renesse. He thought it might be a black-footed penguin. Now I don’t know much about seabirds, but I think this is a dead razorbill. I know that razorbills are special seabirds. They can fly very fast and are also good at maneuvering.
They can maneuver between the waves. You can also observe this off our coast and I have often done this. With binoculars of course! The best period for this is the end of spring and the beginning of summer. They don’t breed here, you have to go to Iceland or Scotland for that. To obtain food they dive and this can be to considerable depths, where they look for herring, smelt and even crustaceans.
What seed came down into the garden?
Leny Noijens saw a seed fall in her garden. She initially thought of a maple seed, but she saw on the internet that that was wrong. She then sent me a photo. This is not a maple seed, but a hornbeam seed. Personally, I think the hornbeam is one of the most beautiful trees. You can also use them as a hedge – the name says it all. I have had a hornbeam hedge like this in my garden for years.
The hornbeam does not belong to the beech family, but to the birch family. The scientific name also indicates this, because it is carpinus betulus. If she does not maintain such a hedge properly, it can become trees with a maximum height of 25 meters. The fruit, a nut (see photo), is about a centimeter in size and is enclosed in a three-winged leaf, see photo. The leaves of the hornbeam provide the nut, within those three wings, with food.
A devil’s egg cut in half
Anne-Marie Verwijst saw a mushroom in the woods near Schaarsbergen that she thought had been cut. That’s right. What you see in the photo is a cut devil’s egg of the large stink mushroom. The beautiful olive green are the spores. The white part underneath is the stem, which bores through the brown jelly wall and the white membrane around it with a kind of egg tooth. Then the big stink fungus stands tall and stinking proud in the forest.
With its pungent smell, the mushroom attracts various types of flies and beetles, which walk around on the olive green, taking the spores and spreading them. If you would like to know more about this special mushroom, see the link of the Stuifmail of November 10, 2019
What fungus is on this tree near Kaatsheuvel?
Patrizia van Houwelingen saw a mushroom on a tree at Bos en Rijk in Kaatsheuvel. She wonders which one this is, if it kills the tree and if the mushroom is dangerous to people. I don’t see a stem in the photo, so this is a fungus. And a very rare one at that. It is a wig fungus. Wig fungi always hang high in trees and are weak parasites. That means that this tree was already sick, but people don’t see that. For example, wig fungi grow on trunk wounds of old deciduous trees, especially beech trees. Very occasionally also on pedunculate oaks and robinias. These old trees are usually found in parks and avenues of all kinds. When such a tree has really died – you no longer see any leaves in the tree – wig fungi can still continue to live. Scientists think that such a fungus can survive for up to forty years. I will talk about the safety of trees in the podcast 59 of October 29.
Pike dies from gluttony
Ludovic Bovee found something special at the refuge in the Krammer-Volkerak near Zijpe on Schouwen-Duiveland. He saw a washed up pike with prey there. Ludovic suspects that this pike suffocated while trying to swallow a fish. Now I know that pikes are known as voracious predatory fish, which regularly make mistakes about the size of the fish. Especially when there are fish such as pike-perch. This species of fish raises its spines when attacked. This means that such a greedy pike can no longer regurgitate its prey. Then he suffocates. Now the fish in the photo with the pike is not a pike-perch. What is it? Ludovic is thinking about a mullet. So listeners, come with your response. You can email to [email protected]!
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Smart pikes – Vinmoxan
Watch the video above to see what smart pike do with dead bait! The pike is a large freshwater fish from the pike family. This is one of the predatory fish found in the Netherlands. The pike can also be found in parts of Europe, Asia and North America. Pike can live up to fifteen years.
Is this a tick?
Nienke Verbeek sent me a photo of a small insect on an iron plate. She wondered if this is a tick ‘or another beetle’. Well, a tick is not a beetle but an arachnid.
Second, the insect on that plate is a bug. The name is lime tree bug. This bug belongs to the soil bug family. Species of this bug family feed mainly on seeds and usually live on the soil, sometimes also on plants. Limestone bugs can grow up to six millimeters in length and often live in large groups on lime trees. This bug species originally occurred in South Africa and the area around the Mediterranean Sea. They were first observed in North Brabant in 2008. They are still fairly rare here, but due to the warmer and milder winters you see the numbers increasing.
Tree frog hopped from utility room to living room in Helvoirt
Hans and Hanneke Schuurmans made a special report. They saw something green in the utility room that hopped into the living room. To their astonishment, they saw that it was a tree frog! They caught the animal and neatly released it.
They wonder why such a tree frog occurs in an ordinary neighborhood in Helvoirt. Well, that’s a difficult question. Helvoirt is a village located in a wet area, with the best example being Helvoirts Broek. All frogs are still busy – outside pools and puddles – looking for food. They also look for a wintering place. In short, they wander through the environment and can therefore get lost. But it may also be that someone has tree frogs legally or illegally in his or her garden or near the pond.
Beautiful photos section
In the beautiful photos section, this time a photo taken by Johan van den Bongaardt. “I read your post last week about the hanging mushroom on a grape branch. I think you are right. This week there was a mushroom on the top of the same grape branch.
Nature tip
A mushroom walk will be organized in Sint-Michielsgestel on Saturday, November 4 from two to five in the afternoon. Do you clean your room every day? Take mushrooms as an example! Every day they help nature by cleaning up fallen leaves and dead wood. Do you want to know more about these show-offs? Together we will look for as many types of mushrooms as possible on the Haanwijk estate. You are probably familiar with the fly agaric with the red and white dots. But have you ever heard of a sheep, a russula or the ink mushroom?
More information
• Departure point is the location of the Brabant Landscape Foundation at Haanwijk 4A in Sint-Michielsgestel.
• Registration is not necessary.
• Non-members of Natuurmonumenten pay two euros for participation.
• Information can be obtained from Michel van de Langenberg, telephone; 06-224 329 41 or email to [email protected].
• Parents and grandparents are also welcome to come along!
• Bring a mirror and camera!
