Sunday in Robertstown

I finally got the chance to go and have a look at Martin's Collared Earth-stars and after walking past them twice, I eventually got my act together and noticed them. It was good to see them in the flesh, to see what size they were. As well as the older, mature fruiting bodies, there are still new ones emerging. I too some photos, but as Martin has already posted some excellent shots of them on here, I won't bother posting any of mine.

A little way from the Earth-stars, I found a group of what appear to be one of the Ramaria Spp. Clustered around the base of a large, mature Birch, alongside the path. The general colouration was greyish white and white, with darker, bifurcated tips, as can be seen in the photos.

My first thought, when trying to identify it from the photos, was that it was R. botrytis, but as that seems to be quite rare, and other species of Ramaria look similar, I am now not sure at all.

I had intended going from there to Bryn Du, but by this time, it was getting on a bit, so I decided to stay in the Robertstown area for the rest of my available time.
Taking a stroll around the old Pirelli  factory sports field, which is now just a large area of rank vegetation, I saw surprisingly little, apart from lots of bumble and carder bees. In one corner, I came across this tiny Leafhopper, which is one of the Eupteryx Spp. Probably Eupteryx urticae, but without being able to see if the hind legs' femora are dark, I can't be sure. Nice looking thing though.

I ended my day at the former Universal site, where I came across this Peppered Moth caterpillar on some Mugwort.

Also a regular there is Hairy Shieldbug.

Having been looking for Alder Tongue for a couple of years, without success, I have been looking again this year, but there seems to be a distinct lack of pseudocones on the local Alders this year. Presumably, the weather conditions were unsuitable at the time when the catkins were shedding their pollen. Has anyone else noticed this scarcity of Pseudocones on the Alders this year?