Interesting Fungi

It feels as if we've reverted to full winter again, with a near gale yesterday morning and XC Weather threatening more high winds over this evening and tomorrow, and a full gale through Tuesday night.  So this morning's forecast of a brief break in the weather took us up into the hills at the back of the house, heading northeast along Druim na Gearr Leacainn towards Tom na Moine, the knoll of the peat or moor, from which there's a good view down onto Ormsaigbeg and along towards Kilchoan.

The burns that run down the ridge are busy with the recent rainfall, not that one would like to drink their water.  It's been a tough winter for the sheep, particularly these hardy hill blackface beasts, and the prolonging of winter isn't good news for them.

There's still little sign of any green growth in the uplands, though there are some interesting fungal growths on this old tup's horn.  The scat on it is probably pine marten's, further evidence that these animals seem to stray a long way from the nearest woodland.

On the higher slopes of Tom na Moine we found a very early puffball mushroom.... Well, no, not a mushroom, more.... a golf ball.  Now what's a golf ball doing near the top of a hill way out in the common grazings?

From Tom na Moine we headed north to Stacan Dubha, the black cliff, where the promised rain caught us as we reached the exposed summit and prompted a hurried reorganisation of our outer wear, but the rain....

....rapidly turned into sleet, then hail, and finally into a wet, slushy snow.

Enough of winter.  Please can we have some sun?