free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Weather forecast for the weekend to come gives us very little hope
Heavy rain, thunderstorms, thick cloud... What a shame.
Bearing that in mind I grabbed another chance to walk the hills over Beauly. This time my main focus was on visiting the forest in search for edible mushrooms. So my report will be more about the surrounding wildlife than views, although the latter are nice from any higher ground above Beauly and Muir of Ord.
My target was Rheindown Wood. From Beauly I walked uphill and then turned right towards Clashandorran and Aultvaich. Weather was so-so - warm but cloudy:
Kessock bridge:
Muir of Ord from above:
The track to Clashandorran with the houses of Beauly in the background:
Lunch time for birds:
Soldier beetles kept themselves occupied
Beauly Firth from the track past Clashandorran:
Muir of Ord again:
Ben Wyvis came into view:
I was walking along pastures now and rabbits were everywhere. Some of them behaved more like meerkats though (Simples???)
On a field in Aultvaich I noticed a pair of cute, little ponies - one of them even agreed to pose for a few photos
Black devil?...
The track branching to Aultvaich ends in the village, but one can continue walking through the woods, as there are a few paths leading in different directions.
As soon as I dived into the forest, I forgot about the whole world - there were so many things to photograph and some to pick as well!
Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) - one of the tastiest mushrooms in our woods, grows mainly under pines and spruces, usually in large "families". It is so characteristic and easy to spot even for inexperienced mushroom pickers. Lovely in creamy soup, in dumplings, fantastic for stir-fries. My favourite mushroom by far. Yum yum!
Sand bolete (Suillus variegatus) - another tasty edible mushroom, can be collected in large quantities as it also grows in groups under pines. Good for drying, also fried and as pizza topping. Requires a bit of cleaning though but it's worth the effort.
Crowded brittlegill (Russula densifolia) - this one is edible but I personally don't pick them as they are easy to mistake them for other, poisonous species.
Sickener (Russula emetica) - beware! This lovely looking red capped fungi causes stomach upsets (as the name suggests).
This is probably a young death cap (Amanita phalloides), the most dangerous mushroom in our forests. Well, it won't chase you down the woods
but a single fruiting body contains enough toxin called amanitine to kill an adult human. The toxin cannot be destroyed by cooking or drying and there is no cure to it, apart from liver transplant. Scary
This one little nasty mushroom is the sole reason why I don't pick brittlegills - young ones look so similar to death caps that even with my degree in toxicology I can never be sure which is which. Better safe than sorry!
I left the death cap where it grew and continued to wander around the forest:
I emerged from the woods somewhere near Dunmore - just to get some good views:
The distant Cromarty Firth:
I took some pics and dived into the forest one more time. I managed to pick about 1 kg of chanterelles and boletes and as it was getting really late when I found myself back in Aultvaich, I decided it was time to go home.
The mushrooms I found were of course served for dinner and as we are still alive and kicking today, I'm sure I didn't mistakenly mix any death caps in
