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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A fearsome predator lurks in the lichens! This striking creature is the larva of a hoverfly - Epistrophe grossulariae. It mostly eats aphids. #FencepostOfTheWeek #hoverfly #epistrophe #lichen #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of the top of a fencepost, covered in lichens and bryophytes. A small, lime green creature is visible on the right hand side.

photo of a translucent slug like creature perched on a lichen.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The ash trees may be dying, but there is still a lot to like about this ravine. #ravine #landscapephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of a dank, ferny ravine with a cascade and a moribund ash tree.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

The forest floor was studded with thousands of tiny, white mushrooms. These are Hymenoscyphus fraxineus - the fungus that causes ash die-back disease. #hymenoscyphus #ashdieback #ash #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of stalked, translucent off-white cup-fungi mostly about 1mm diameter.

photo of the woodland floor, several fine ash twigs are visible - all of them sprouting small, white mushrooms

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Deep in a tangly spruce plantataion. These trees were blown over by a storm about 25 years ago but they didn't die. They just grew up again from side branches. #moss #intothewoods #windthrow #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of a thick tangle of mossy spruce trees

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

19 months of development on this fantastic dead end sign. November 2024 -> June 2026. #lichen #moss #naturephotography #signage #argyll #scotland #uk

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

A tiny mushroom with sparse, spiky hairs projecting from its cap. Mycena aciculata, I think. #fungi #mushrooms #mycena #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Close up of a small, delicate mushroom sprouting from a mossy log. The cap and stem are bristling with fine, perpendicular hairs.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Harbour seals putting in a hard shift at the loaf factory, Inchmarnock. #phoca #seal #wildlifephotography #inchmarnock #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of five harbour seals hauled out on a weedy seashore; one swimming by in the foreground.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Puccinia albescens, a rust fungus, growing all over these townhall clock plants. (Photos from April.) #adoxa #puccinia #rustfungi #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

photo of some flower-like rust fungus aecia errupting from the underside of a leaf

photo of some flower-like rust fungus aecia errupting from the underside of a leaf. A scale below the photo indicates that they are less than 1mm wide.

Photo of a townhall clock plant, heavily infected with rust fungus.

Close-up photo of a townhall clock flower with a rust fungus growing on it.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Tongue and Groove #FencepostOfTheWeek Not sure that's how you're supposed to do it but whatever works... #fencepost #moss #lichen #LonghornBeetle #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a mossy old fencepost with two planks attached to it. Ouf of focus longhorn beetle looking on from the left.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Auspicious signs, Inverary! They even left the reverse blank for your personal message... ^_^ #lichen #argyll #scotland #uk #signage #HereBeLichens

A wooden signpost with "<- Caravan Park / Wildlife Park / Golf Course" written on it. It is weathered and covered in lichen making it hard to read.

Photo of a blank wooden sign, weathered and covered in lichen. It has been faked to read "Here be Lichens"

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Buff-tip moth from Achnabreac near Lochgilphead yesterday. A close look at some of the different scale/hair shapes contributing to its fancy get-up. #phalera #moth #buff-tip #insect #wildlifephotography #lepidoptera #argyll #scotland #uk

photograph of a buff-tip moth: a broken stick mimic.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

So many bones. A thick layer of detritus from the bottom of a barn owl nest box. #bones #nest #owl #argyll #scotland #uk #naturephotography

Photo of a thick scattering of bones - the skulls of small rodents being the most salient. They are embedded in a mat of blackish, decomposing fur and partly greened-over with algae.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

A splendid male adder, ready for action on the 23rd April. This year I missed all the action :'( #adder #snake #reptile #herps #naturephotography #vipera #argyll #scotland #uk #snake_cw

photo of a black and white snake with a blood-red eye, on stony ground in harsh sunlight.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A 3d scan of the same - I think I found the flue.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A fascinating little ruin I found next to the Stowhall Burn above Acharossan. A corn kiln, perhaps. #argyll #scotland #uk

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Smooth, wiggly algae going with the flow. If I look at them under a microscope, I'm sure they'll be even flowier and wigglier, right?

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

A couple of jaunty sea-side lichens having a tussle. I think I've got Xanothoria aureola in yellow and Anaptychia runcinata in brown (it goes a lovely avocado green colour when well hydrated.) #lichen #anaptychia #xanthoria #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a mix of yellow and brown lichen lobes spreading over a rock.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Some lovely, leathery textures on this very fresh cabbage white chrysalis. <3 (from last August) #pieris #lepidoptera #insect #wildlifephotography #chrysalis #galloway #scotland #uk

Photo of a rather glossy chrysalis attached to a whitewashed stone wall.

closer view of some of the textures on the same chrysalis

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I've been seeking out a tiny lichen called Arctomia - it has beautiful deep red apothecia and is one of the many denizens of lush mini-jungles that form in the canopy of liverwort mats on tree trunks in danker woodlands in these parts. #arctomia #liverworts #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

close up photo of some red frullania liverworts with a host of smaller things growing in amongst them

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I think this one's Metatrichia floriformis, but the reddish, lid-shaped ornaments are not normal. Anyone seen them before?

slime mould sporangia - black with reddish tops.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

New-to-me slime mould spotted on the broken end of a dead birch branch. Looks like Comatricha nigra, maybe. #slimemold #myxomycetes #comatricha #slimemould #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of some fuzzy, brown, egg-shaped slime mould sporangia with long, dark, tapering stalks.

photo of some slime mould capilitium with elegantly curved, branching threads about 1-2µm in diameter, with an occasional spherical spore of about 9µm diameter.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

A soggy wooden post with an unusual topping: Stereocaulon dactylophyllum, I think. #FencepostOfTheWeek #stereocaulon #lichen #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of an old fencepost, the top completely covered by a mass of bushy lichens.

Macro photo of the underside of the same lichen.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Wilson's filmy fern - Hymenophyllum wilsonii. Slightly dry but still very lovely ^_^ #fern #hymenophyllum #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Close up photo of some filmy fern fronds.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Found a big, beautiful patch of Ricasolia virens cyanomorph on a willow near Auchalick Bay. #lichen #ricasolia #cyaonomorph #photosymbiodeme #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk

Photo of a willow trunk with good coverage of green moss and black Ricasolia virens cyanomorphs with a scattering of bright green lobes.

close up of some black, bushy Ricasolia virens thalli with a few bright green lobes budding from them.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Tripe fungus - Auricularia mesenterica. Looking like tiers of bizarrely inflated turkey tail brackets. It usually grows on elm wood. #fungi #auricularia #tripefungus #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #gigha #uk

photo of a crowd of thick, rubbery bracket fungi with fuzzy tops and smooth, translucent undersides.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

This entire fence has been pulled out of the ground and rolled up. It's still providing fertile surfaces for some nice lichens and mosses, though. #FencepostOfTheWeek

Photo of the mossy end of a toppled fencepost, in a roll of rusty fence-wire.

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Ben Mitchell @wilde-eep.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The underside of this lichen has some textures! I think this one is Umbilicaria torrefacta, growing on exposed rocks in a montane environment. #lichen #umbilicaria #trypophobia #naturephotography #argyll #scotland #uk #trypophobia

Photo of the underside of a leathery lichen

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