Challenge four: find the fungi

After a brief sojurn in rural Devon, I'm back on Brownsea for one more week of Autumnwatch fun. I can't believe how ridiculously fast last week was, a sentiment shared by Series Editor Stephen Moss. I personally put it down to being completely occupied by meeting you insatiable desire for setting me time-consuming challenges. Have loved doing them though so if you're waiting for the right time then now's it! Only 3 more days of challenge time left... Can life go on after this?!

Today I took to the vegetation in order to meet Sophie's fungi challenge of spotting seven different colours of waxcap on Brownsea. Now you might think fungi doesn't sound like much fun, but even the non-mycologists among us must admit that waxcaps are pretty pretty fungi. The National Trust launched its Waxcap Watch last year, trying to get an idea of how widespread these colourful fungi are and it showed up that, thanks to the efforts of the Dorset Fungus Group, Brownsea Island is the 3rd best place in the country for waxcaps, so I must admit feeling a certain amount of confidence about meeting Sophie's challenge.

Waxcaps grow best on tightly cropped, unfertilised grassland, so they're a great indicator of ancient and undisturbed habitats that haven't had loads of chemicals chucked at them. Much of this habitat has been lost to intensive agriculture and development, so National Trust lawns and parks are proving a vital safehaven for these rainbow coloured mycelia.

So, armed with my waxcap guide I sallied forth, hot on the trail of fungi fun. Not being the most clement of days it was a fairly cold and wet affair but, un-shakeable in my determination to discover, a comprehensive survey of the Island taking in Church Field (the back drop to Bill and Kate's bench pieces), the Daffodil Fields and the churchyard confirmed my initial confidence with a result of...8 different waxcaps! I think. Not being a trained mycologist myself I may of course have got it totally wrong, but as you see below, the colours are certainly different, even if they turn out to be all the same species.

Any waxcap boffins out there want to set me straight and identify these beauties? Please do!

If that's tickled your fancy for fungi, why not get involved yourself with our Waxcap Watch survey? It's good wholesome fun all round.