Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Always wanted to see one of these, and on today's dog walk, the route I have taken for several years, I noticed a small group whilst picking up after the dog! Pretty sure it is Collared Earthstar, despite the lack of a collar, due to the fairly big size, and the fact some of the other Earthstar species are as good as extinct in the UK. Still finding Fungi a real nightmare to get to grips with.. This my 22nd species! I suspect I've seen the same number again which I haven't been able to put a name to.

Experimenting a bit with my torch. Works a treat, and may come in handy a couple of evenings later this year ;) .

I don't upgrade my Binoculars or Scope very often, and tend to go several years with the same pair. My main binoculars are Leica Duovids, which weigh a tonne, but give a nice sharp view, and have the bonus of both 8x and 12x. The 12x come in handy when seawatching or on Marinelife ferry surveys. Insects and Reptile surveys, however, the Duovids really aren't practical as the closest focusing is about 4 metres, causing me to step back from many interesting animals. This has led to me using an old pair of Opticrons for such surveys which have a very close focus, but must be 20 years old now! My search for an upgrade took me far and wide. I'd have preferred an 8x42 or even 10x42 with close focus, to replace both my current binoculars, but after many searches, I found myself trying a pair of Zeiss Victory 8x25 pockets. Other compact binoculars I had tried were awful for me, a pair of Leica 8x20s I couldn't even line them up against my eyes without weird double barr...