16th July 2022
Whilst most of the Norfolk Fungus Study Group programme is naturally in Norfolk, the group also has a scattering of members based in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, and this year took up the invitation to hold a meeting at Wicken Fen, a few miles over the border into Cambridgeshire. Wicken and Woodwalton Fens were places I knew of at an early age from nature documentaries, so I was eager to attend to have a look round. Unfortunately from a fungi recording point of view the visit coincided with a spell of hot dry weather, and the number of species seen was low, mostly restricted to plant fungi and a few on wood.
The highlight was undoubtedly a Silver Barred moth, found by Stewart Wright. This species is limited to a small number of fenland sites and was something we had been actively looking for on the trip, only for Stewart to find one as we neared the end. A downy mildew on Wild Mignonette (Peronospora crispula), Parsley Water-dropwort and the Tephritid fly known as Knapweed Ghost (Acanthiophilus helianthi) were also new species for me. Thanks to Chris Preston and Owen Mountford for facilitating our visit.
