Salten Langsø - undisturbed landscape

Salten Langsø holds a safe distance to disturbers.

Salten Langsø is a lake in Mid Jutland, about 12 m deep and 6 km long and very narrow, it lies in a tunnel valley in the lake district of Mid Jutland west of the lake Mossø. Salten Langsø has winding shores, and it mirrors the shape of the melted deadice-lump from Ice Age, which created the lake. The lake bassin has steep sides and is divided into four parts. In the western part is an island and the lake is here divided into two inlets.

 




the map is too dark, but you can of course see it better on Google Earth.

Salten Langsø with the valleys, the Salten river valley and the lake itself, is a side branch of the Gudenå river, and it is among the most undisturbed nature areas in Denmark.

Salten Langsø is like Mossø a part of Natura 2000-area in the Mid Jutland lake district , and it has some of Denmark's most beautiful and varied nature. The lakes and the valleys  are some of the most imprssive and illustrative Ice Age landscapes. ( the Gudenå river crosses north- south )

Salten Langsø is in several places only a few hundred meter broad. On the northside of the lake are high, forested hillsides (Høvil and Højkol skov) and Ildal skov. The southside, Addit Næs and Salten Næs in a relative flat area with forest, heath, farmland and several small lakes. The terrain rises again to the southwest , Addit skov, which is difficult to access. The highest point is Møgelbjerg (137 m).

Blueberry bushes

.

The forests are privately owned, but driven with great emphasis on nature - and therefore the planting is very varied, and several areas have the characteristics of a natural forest. 

 

Along the path were hundreds and hundreds of digger wasps nest in the earth. I saw no wasps

, but it was interesting to see those little nests, looking like little volcanos ! I 'll recommend you to search for the digger wasps on the net for there are so many species!
 


The area around the lake is ,considering Danish conditions, sparsely populated. The lake is a part of Salten Å-river's water system, which is a side branch of the Gudenå- river. The lake is a natural eutrof lake with an average depth of 4,5 m, and a max depth of 12 m. Half of the lake area is under 4 m deep. The shore vegetation is mainly a narrow fringe of alder (Aldus glutinosa) (Danish: rød-el.) In a few places grow reed. 

In the DOF-list were in january 2012 registered well 17500 observations of 188 bird species, only few waders, but all other possible forest birds.The area north and south of Salten Langsø is mostly covered in forest, but it contains also a combination of lakes and forests which makes it one of Denmark's best terrains for birds of prey. Both the whitetailed eagle and the osprey are often seen. The white-tailed eagle has been breeding since 2008.

It is not a great fungus year this year, but at least there was one Karl Johan and a one of the little pretty red ones.



 








photo Salten Langsø September 2015: grethe bachmann

The Fungi-World in Autumn

In a Forest at Løvenholm manor, Djursland.

                                                                                                                           (Flora and Fauna)

After some rain there were many mushrooms in the September-forest. The forest at Løvenholm manor on Djursland is usually a good place to find a good variation of mushrooms.

The first collection of my mushroom-photos is from Løvenholm, the second from a heath at Vrads Sande and the third from a forest close to Silkeborg. 


                                                                        

The autumn is high season of fungi in the woods, both the edible and the poisonous. There are many guided tours with experts who'll guide people to find the good edible mushrooms and to avoid the dangerous ones.

Many groups are out in the forest with baskets, gathering mushrooms for their dinner and many love to go fungi-hunting in the autum, where numbers of toadstools after a heavy rain suddenly tell people that now has autumn arrived.

The fungi are so deviant from plants and animals that the overall collective term flora and fauna  had to be expanded by a third unit which only includes the fungi.  Until the middle of the 1900s the fungi were considered to be plants, but however the scientists acknowledged that the fungi were so deviating from other organisms that they should have their own group. There are supposedly about 1.5 million fungi worldwide. In Denmark are over 6000 species.

 Many years' research has shown that fungi in fact er more closely related to animals than to plants. The research has also proved that fungi have an important  role in the decomposition of organic substances in the soil.






2) At a heath at Vrads Sande, Mid Jutland

Vrads Sande, in  Mid Jutland.

                                                                                                                                                              

Edible fungi have been known by humans for thousands of years, fx in China. In the old Rome people also knew about both edible and poisonous mushrooms, and they believed they were outgrowths from the moist soil. Not until 1710 the Italian Pier Antonio Micheli discovered that fungi reproduces by fungal spores - and he described several species. But it was the Dutchman Christian Hendrik Persoon (1761-1836) and the Swede Elias Fries (1794- 1878), who are considered the founders of mycology.
 

Fungi are able to create very complicated organic connections  Several fungi create substances, which when eaten can attack the human organs, fx kidneys and liver, this often causes death.The most common cause of fungi-poisoning in Denmark is the substance Alfa- amanitin which among others are found in the Amanita virosa (Danish Hvid Fluesvamp), European Destroying Angel. Immature specimens of A. virosa resemble several edible species commonly consumed by humans, increasing the risc of accidental poisoning.

Amanita phalloides (Danish: Grøn Fluesvamp),  commonly known as the Death Cap, which resembles several edible species , commonly consumed by humans, increasing the risk of accidental poisoning

Other poisonous substances are Orellanin and Gyromityrin, and finally the substance Muscarin, which acts as a neurotoxin on the heart.


 3) In a Forest close to Silkeborg

The forest

Some fungi have a hallucinating effect without being directly poisonous. Psilocybin-fungi grows all  over the world and were known long before our time. Already in 500-1000 BC humans have been drawing mushrooms upon stones in religious connections. In many countries the mushrooms were an important part of religious ceremonies and rituals. The fungi had a divine status in such cases - and in Mexico people believed in a god called Piltzintecuhtli,who was the god of all hallucinogenes, especially of the sacred mushroom.

The use of psilocybin-fungi has been done ever since, although it is illegal in many countries today. It has been illegal in Denmark since 2001 because of the risc of bad trips and poisoning. 


As it is difficult to accurately identify a safe mushroom without proper training and knowledge, it is often advised to assume that a wild mushroom is poisonous and not to consume it.

 













Fairy Rings
 Danish: Heksering:  A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. Fairy rings are the subject of much folklore and myth worldwide—particularly in Western Europe While they are often seen as hazardous or dangerous places, they can sometimes be linked with good fortune.

One of the largest rings ever found is near Belfort in France. Formed by Infundibulicybe geotropa, it is thought to be about 600 metres (2,000 ft) in diameter and over 700 years old. On the South Downs in southern England, Calocyve gambosa has formed huge fairy rings that also appear to be several hundred years old.

I have not added any names of the mushrooms in my photos. I do not gather mushrooms, I only take photos and  I buy my good edible mushrooms in the supermarket, but I think it is an exciting period in the autumn forest when all the pretty and mysterious mushrooms pop up with their fine colours in the green moss.


photo Djursland and Mid Jutland, September 2014: grethe bachmann

Amanita phalloides/Death Cap/ Grøn Fluesvamp

Amanita phalloides, stig bachmann nielsen, naturplan.dk

Amanita phalloides/ Death Cap ( Danish: Grøn fluesvamp) 
The most poisonous fungus in the Danish flora.

Characteristics:  Please read also the specified description of Amaniata phalloides at wikipedia, which also tells you about the various habitats of the fungus.

Short Description: Amanita phalloides, the Death Cap (Danish: Grøn Fluesvamp) is Danmark's most common and  most poisonous fluesvamp *. It grows in deciduous forests in a good soil, often below beech and oak. The cap is egg-shaped while the mushroom is young, later half round and at last spread and 6-12 cm broad. The outer holster stays back as a sheath at the swollen base of the 10-12 cm long stem. The colour of the cap varies from pale-yellow to olive-green, blue-green or grey-brown. The lamellas are white or yellow-white, the smell is sweet, honey-like,  in old fungis the smell is unpleasant.


It's now September. This is the time of the autumn and the time of gathering edible mushrooms. There are so many various types of mushrooms in the forest, some are edible and delicious, like the chanterelles and the champignons, others are poisonous or deadly poisonous like the Amanitas. It can be a risky business to be a mushroom hunter. Each year mushroom pickers confuse edible mushrooms with their poisonous relatives, and the Amanita phalloides, The Death Cap,  is highest in these statistics.

young Death Cap (Google)

Death Cap (Google)

But the air is cooler, the sky is clear and blue, the soil in the forest has this special scent of autumn - and now it's time for a lovely day in the September forest. People bring their mushroom-books, but this is not always enough. Even the experienced musthroom gatherers may be in doubt from time to time. And the unexperienced are often in uncharted territory. The poisonous Amanita virosa, called the European Destroying Angel, looks like young specimens of champignons, and the Amanita phalloides, the Death Cap, which is even more poisonous, looks like the edible Volvariella volvacea, called Paddy Straw mushroom, from the Asian kitchen, and the confusion between those two mushrooms has lead to fatal intoxications, also in Denmark. The Death Cap does not grow in Southeast Asia. Fatal intoxications have occurred because people with traditions from Southeast Asia have gathered the Death Cap here, believing it was the edible Paddy Straw mushroom from their homeland.

NB:
The most sold edible mushroom in Thailand is the Volvariella volvacea, the Paddy Straw mushroom, which looks like the Death Cap in the Danish forests - so it is necessary to be utmost cautious when you are gathering mushrooms in Denmark if you come from Southeast Asia. .



* fluesvamp: flue = fly. The Danish peasants used in the old times a porridge made from fluesvamp to smear on the walls of the stable in order to kill the flies.

Source: Biokemisk Forening, Danmarks fugle og natur, Felthåndbogen.

Troldeslugten, "The Troll's Ravine", Hald, Viborg district.

Niels Bugges Kro

The trip to Troldeslugten starts at the parking place by Niels Bugges Inn.  The first part behind the inn is the pond where you might see birds like the grey wagtail, the white-throated dipper and the kingfisher, but they don't show their present right now, so we'll continue on the path along the ravine with the crooked trees. Troldeslugten ("the Troll Ravine") is like the whole area - which surrounds the big lake at Hald - created by the ice and the glacial rivers during the laste Ice Age. Most trees here are up till 300 years old beech trees. The place looks like some kind of Nordic jungle, but it is a natural forest and as such an "untouched forest" = the forest takes care of itslef. In the bottom of the ravine are several springs, which feeds the pond at Niels Bugges Inn.


The path is steep in some places, and the trees are very crooked, leaning across our heads.  It must be a spooky place at night, but here in the sunlight with the light green leaves of May it looks very friendly.
   

On the bank was a violet with the Danish name Krat-viol. English name = Common Dog violet also called Wood violet, a perennial herb of woodland, grassland and hedge banks.Viola riviniana was voted the County flower of Lincolnshire in 2002. It is the food plant of several Fritillary butterflies.

A very big fungus, one of those which are as hard as stone. I think it is called a fomes fomentarius when I compare with other photos. Known as the tinder fungus, hook fungus etc. tghe species sypically live on trees long after they have died, they change from a parstie to a decomposer. Nature is really amazing!
.
F. fomentarius was used as the main ingredient of amadou, a material used primarily as tinder, but also used to make clothing and other items. The 5,000-year-old Ötzi the Iceman carried four pieces of F. fomentarius, concluded to be for use as tinder. It also has medicinal and other uses. The species is both a pest and useful in timber production.

 And here is a fine little Aurora butterfly. The English name is Orange tip. and it is dressed in white with a pretty orange colour.  The Aurora is usually very restless at this time of the year, but this one was sitting quietly in the grass, maybe taking a little warmth from the sparse sunshine.  The weather is cold and there aren't many butterflies out in these days. Some Large White butterflies were bathing in the sunbeams  in the shelter of dried beech leaves from last year.   

photo Hald, Troldeslugten May 2012: grethe bachmann