A patch of green and splashes of red and white.

Taken with my Canon 5DsR and Sigma Art 24–70 in Surea, between Gilze and Oosterhout — a gray day, yet the forest was alive with colour and quiet stories. On a bed of moss and fallen leaves stood a single Amanita muscaria — the fly agaric — but not as we usually know it. Its brilliant red cap was covered in a delicate white layer that resembled a dusting of snow. Only later did I realize: this wasn’t weather, but another fungus growing upon it. A fungus infecting a fungus — a rare and fascinating encounter.

In mycology, such infections occur when parasitic species like Hypomyces invade the fruiting body of another mushroom, spreading their hyphae through its tissues. They slowly consume the host’s nutrients, altering its colour, texture, and even shape. This quiet struggle plays out unseen, yet it’s part of the forest’s endless cycle of decay and renewal — nothing in nature is truly wasted.

I crouched low in the moss to capture it, trying to show not just a mushroom, but a story of resilience, interdependence, and the hidden wars of the microscopic world.

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A Quiet Reward – A Long Walk and a Long-Tailed Friend

Yesterday was a remarkable day out in the field — 15 kilometers through the forests and heathlands, 12 kilos on my back, chasing light, sound, and stillness. The birdlife was active but elusive. A falcon flew over me twice in the pre-dawn dimness, barely two meters above — breathtaking, but far too fast for a photo.

I spotted geese, some fluttering tits leaping through treetops, and then… almost home. Just before reaching my Ioniq 5, tired and happy, I was gifted one last moment: a long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, or staartmees in Dutch), feasting on berries just meters away.

I shifted into stealth mode, barely breathing, and quietly captured the scene with my Canon 7D Mark II and Sigma 100–400mm lens. This small bird, with its oversized tail and round body, is a social species, often seen in flocks — but today, I had a private audience.

To close the walk, a pararge aegeria (bont zandoogje) fluttered by, resting in a sunny patch. A bonus. A bow at the end of the forest’s performance.

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