Fungi walk in Białowieża

I flew into Warsaw last week to see friends and managed a day trip out to Białowieża. The forest is older than anything I’ve ever walked in and the floor was studded with fungi, most of which I couldn’t name. My goal for the day was not identification but good light on mushrooms.

We walked the easy loop outside the strict reserve. The canopy is so tall that the floor stays dim even at noon, which meant long exposures and steady tripod work. The OM-1 handheld stuff came out mushy; the tripod shots were fine.

Our guide pointed out a cluster of sulphur tuft on a fallen hornbeam and kept saying the Polish name until I got it almost right. A separate patch of what I think were orange peel fungi looked exactly like their name. Russulas everywhere. A single amanita that our guide wouldn’t let us touch.

I wanted a photograph of the forest itself and not just the ground, so I shot a few frames looking up through spruce and oak. None of them felt like they captured it, but that’s always how it goes with old forests.

Ended the day with pierogi and a local beer back at the village. Good day.