North Kerry Waxcap Survey 2012 - the Northern Ireland Fungus Group

• Ballynahow. A very surprising site with 9 species found. This was the road edge from the last
house up to car park for the Brandon coastal walk. All the surrounding mountainside was far
too wet but this tiny piece of grass had a good number of species. The actual cliff edges at
Beenaman were devoid of waxcaps.
• Tarbert House. Having studied the gardens inventory for the study area, this was targeted as
one of the best old estate houses and thanks must go to the Leslie family for their hospitality
on this visit. The lawn was small but with 7 species in such a small area, it was good and
could well be a site for Hygrocybe calyptriformis.
• Sybil Point. This headland must be better. There was a long earth bank extending right the
way out to the head but there were no fungi at all on it which was hard to explain. There is
good grassland on the steep slopes at the point itself up to the high point by the old
watchtower but only 6 species were found. Hard to explain.
• Kerry Head. A very wet site with grassland restricted to the two points at the cliff edge.
Surveying was verging on dangerous in the high winds but this site is unlikely to have more
species. The power of the wind was awesome with large areas of turf ripped and battered by
the winds. 5 species found.
• Brandon Point. 3 species found but 2 additional species found on an earlier visit. This site
looked very promising from a distance but the stone walled fields were improved and the
land above the road was extremely wet with possible waxcap habitat restricted to the path
side climbing up to the watchtower. A good example of how grassland fungi are squeezed
between the intensively farmed fields and very wet natural habitat.
Ballydavid Head from Beenaman
39