On a dry, dull-grey day, we have come to this popular local nature reserve for a gentle recuperative ramble and some birdwatching. The info board states that we may see bittern, water rail, great egret, and widgeon aplenty. It says nothing about the host of visitors like us who have congested the Blashford Lakes car park, and with whom we exchange pleasantries as our paths cross.



We stop beside a group studying the top of a high tree. We can’t see the bird either, and move on. A chance to sit down in Ivy South Hide and watch from there would be a welcome break, but all the benches are occupied, and others are waiting. We press on across the boardwalk, and find ourselves on a path devoid of people.

We came with birds in mind but, as we walk in solitude, it’s a dead tree that gains our attention. Dead trees don’t get much of a press. Just occasionally – like the Naked Man just off the A35 near Holmsley – one may be well recalled in folklore, included in walkers’ guides, and be a dot on a map.

For each one remembered, a million and more will be forgotten. Lying parallel with the path, over-arched with brambles, cloaked with feather mosses, this large trunk so blends into the shrubbery that it’s easy to pass by without even noticing it.

Though dead for many a year, it radiates life. Ferns flourish in fissures in its bark. Bedstraw is already spreading from the seedbed of decaying detritus under the moss, and a birch is growing from a deeper deposit where branches were cut when it fell.

Most of all, we are intrigued by the fungi. Hundreds of small silver-grey bullets are thrusting through the feather moss. They seem to be a Xylaria species, but further identification would require microscopic examination of the spores. It must be one of the three species we have, but even with willing friends, we can’t get that done in time for this diary. Birds are certainly easier.

Thanks to specialist help from a member of the Hampshire Fungi Group who has examined the spores, it is possible to confirm that the species in the picture is Xylaria longipes. Thanks to all who commented. Graham Long, 24 January

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