Fungi Hunting - How to look for fungi

When you walk along nature trails such as this one at the Dairy Farm Nature Park, look closely at the vegetation around especially at tree stumps, logs, fallen trees and dead leaves. Some fungi grow on the soil but most that I found were on decaying wood. There were times when I spotted fungi growing on truncated tree trunks high above the ground. This is when you need a zoom lens to get the photo that you want.

Fungi at the entrance to the Dairy Farm Park.

Fungi like these camouflaged themselves by blending in with the texture of the wood.

A tree stump that supported rich fungi growth.

You will not be able to see anything unless you take a closer look.

Surprise! A nice colony of dainty fungi.

See if you can spot them here.

Some fungi like to hide beneath fallen tree trunks.

I almost missed seeing them.

These are quite close to the trek but many people missed them.

Sometimes, you have to walk away from the beaten track to see these.

Lots of potential here!

Colours that blend. Easy to walk past them if you do not consciously seek them out.

The colours call out for attention - the right kind please.

A most interesting type of fungi. No one noticed. We missed it on the way into the park but saw it on the way out.

Fungi Hunting

Sunday was fungi-hunting day seeing that we did two trails - a short one along the exercise stations starting at the far end of the carpark in front of the Visitor centre of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in the morning and a longer one at the new Dairy Farm Nature Park in the late afternoon. This post will feature the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve walk. The next few days could perhaps be the best time to look for fungi because of the cool weather brought about by the rains in the last two days. The wet and dampness in the parks and nature reserves are excellent conditions for fungi growth and the variety we encountered was amazing! The colours and textures were fascinating. We saw pink and orange mushrooms other than the usual white and brown ones and even found one with a slug feeding on it. There was also a black and yellow insect on a pretty pink mushroom. I guess it was also having lunch when we saw it. As long as the weather maintains its coolness for the next few days, fungi-hunting activities would be rewarding.

At the end of our walk, we saw a mushroom that has been broken off from the log it was growing on. Later in the day, there were even more such evidence of idiotic behaviour at the Dairy Farm Nature Walk. It is such a pity that when the National Parks Board opened up a prime piece of nature to the public, people could not have the decency to just leave nature alone. They had to poke and probe fungi that looked like they had survived many years in the wild and destroy what nature meant for them to appreciate and admire.

West Coast Park fungi

After a long spell of not seeing any fungi, I spotted these beneath some shrubs in West Coast Park. So where can you find fungi in our parks? There are no designated lots for fungi to bloom. I never consciously went fungi hunting because you may not always find fungi even if you make an effort to look out for them. I just keep my eyes open especially when the weather is wet and things around are damp in the park. I pay attention to fallen tree trunks, decaying logs, tree stumps, tree trunks and branches as I walk along a trail or strolling along the garden paths looking for flowers. If conditions are right and you look at places that are dark, shaded and damp, you might be rewarded with the less common type of fungi. Everytime I come across a fungi that I do not see very often or have not seen before, I count it as one of my blessings.

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Sunset

Earth Trail Fungi

The conditions must have been excellent for so many different types of fungi to bloom along the Earth Trail below the elevated walkway linking the Hortpark to Telok Blangah Hill. I have seen most these fungi before except for the yellow jelly-like ones.