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October is a great month to visit a forest and search for mushrooms and toadstools to photograph!
October is a great month to go on a fungus foray in your local woodland. Especially after some rain, the forest floor is likely to hold a wide variety of all sorts of mushrooms and toadstools.



5 fascinating fungi facts
Fungi are fascinating! Here are 5 amazing facts about fungi.
Fungi are in a kingdom of their own but are closer to animals than plants.
fungi fact #1
I love photographing fungi; partly because they don’t fly away like insects and birds! Snapping pictures of mushrooms and toadstools might also be of interest to a child. Encourage them to crouch down on the woodland floor and take photos at “fungi level”: probably easier for younger people than us oldies!

However, “top down” photos can also be interesting, especially when they make such interesting patterns and symmetries.

Fungi have chemicals in their cell walls that they share with lobsters and crabs.
fungi fact #2
I mention woodlands, but the good news is you can find fungi literally anywhere. You can find them shooting up in city centre parks, on roadside verges and canal banks. You could search for them on your back lawn, along farm tracks, or in pastures and meadows.

Wherever you find them, take a moment to marvel at their incredibly diversity of shapes, sizes, textures and colours.

It is estimated that there are at least 1.5 million different species of fungi.
fungi fact #3
The more you look, the more you’ll find. It’s often profitable to examine the forest floor really closely, because some are tiny, like this one I found, growing out of a nut:

Others are exceptionally fragile and look so delicate that you wonder how they’ll last for more than an hour or two:

The best places to look for fungi in the autumn are forests and woodlands. They don’t have to be big forests; any small copse might prove fruitful.


216 species of fungi are thought to be hallucinogenic.
fungi fact #4
You can walk along the footpaths and see what’s visible on either side of you. Or you could strike out into the forest itself.

I personally make a beeline for areas where the soil has recently been disturbed, for example by some forestry work, horses’ hooves, or by a tree falling over and exposing the soil. It’s also good to check out rotting tree trunks, sawn off tree stumps, and piles of logs.


I would recommend not touching the fungi you come across nor picking them, and definitely not eating them, as some are poisonous. Unless of course you are proficient at identifying edible fungi.
Some fungi are so toxic that they can cause instant death in animals and humans
fungi fact #5

Where to find mushrooms and toadstools in Belgium?
Literally anywhere. However, here are some recommendations of forests I’ve enjoyed walking through and discovering all sorts of nature, not just fungi. They are listed by province:
- Flemish Brabant: Mollendaal Forest
- Liรจge: Hertogenwald Forest
- Hainaut: La Foret du Pays de Chimay
- Limburg: Hoge Kempen National Park
- Antwerpen: Border Park De Zoom
- East Flanders: Raspaillebos
- West Flanders: Heuvelland
- Brussels/Walloon Brabant: Foret de Soignes
- Luxembourg: Anlier Forest
- Namur: Bocq Valley
Books on mushrooms and toadstools
Send me your fungi foto!
If you or your children have taken a photo of a wild mushroom or toadstool that you are especially proud of, send it to me in an email and I will be delighted to add it to this post.
First up is Easter Jacinto who sent me these photos of some fungi whe and her daughter discovered on their walks on the Mechelse Heide, Maasmechelen and to Ninglinspo:




Second up is Joy-Ann who sent me these photos of fungi in her garden in Uccle:




Any questions? Just drop me a line.
More nature guides on this blog
Here are some more helpful guides to explore nature on this blog:
Great photos!
Thanks Henry!
Love the woodland. And all of these images. My favourite is Sherwood Forest on my doorstep.
Excellent รฐลธหย
You’re lucky to be so close to such a super forest Sue. Say hi to Robin next time you’re there!
Haha thank you Denzil,, They have just built a new centre for the Sherwood Forest for visitors.. The Major Oak is Massive and well worth a look I wrote about it and have some pictures way back in 2013 https://suedreamwalker.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/a-major-oak-medieval-days/
Woods are my favourite place Denzil ๐
Take care and it was good to catch a post .. <3 Hugs
Wow, in your pictures you can see that’s it quite some oak tree isn’t it? Would love to sit under that and soak up its knowledge.
You can’t go beyond the fenced area around it, die to too many walking and damaging it’s roots. But it’s got lots of energy รฐลธยคโ
Great shots Denzil. Don’t eat them!
Ha! Don’t worry Frag. I’ve made a nice soup and put it in the freezer ready for my closest enemies. (Not that I have any, of course).
With a glass of chianti? รฐลธหโ
Great idea! I’m tempted to deliver the chianti and my toadstool soup to No. 10. With some fava beans of course.
Please do! ๐
Fabulous photographs Denzil. I went on a mushroom forage last summer, and learned just how dangerous some species are to eat.
I hope that wasn’t “learn from experience” Brigid! Thanks for your compliment! Best wishes to you. I am delighted to continually read that your book is doing so well. https://watchingthedaisies.com/book/
Thank you Denzil. No, I did not experiment! Yes, I am glad that sales and reviews are continuing to go well. I appreciate your support.
Wow Denzil, what a varied and excellent album you’ve compiled. Keeping an eye out for these is a lot of fun during a wet spell in the woods.
Thanks for the compliment Robert. Yes, it makes a wet walk a bit more interesting, for sure.
Fascinating, Denzil. What beauties! Thanks for sharing. The only fungi I’ve ever seen are the colorless ones. Earlier this year, one appeared from seemingly nowhere in one of my plant pots.
That’s probably good Rosaliene: the colourless ones tend to be less harmful than the brightly coloured ones (although not always: one of the most poisonous looks rather like a common field mushroom!)
Thanks for the warning, Denzil.
This was a fun post. Your fungi are fabulous. Washington State forests are famous for the ‘Shrooms that people forage there (and some of them may also be used for food. ๐
Thanks Pat. ‘Shrooms: that’s a great word. Probably better to use in polite society than ‘Stools! ๐
You captured some wonderful photos here. ๐
Thanks Judy. There’s always something to see in each season, as you capture so well on your own blog.
A wonderful and entertaining photo essay, Denzil. I’ve never seen most of these fungi, and they don’t grow near me, so it’s a treat to see them here. You’re an excellent photographer, bending or not.
Ha, thanks Sharon. It keeps me supple! ๐
I’ve been admiring your beautiful fungi photos on Instagram. The colours are amazing.
Fabulous fungi! I do love to see it bloom, especially when I come across new (to me) and wonderful varieties!
I sure enjoyed this post. I’d never thought about photographing fungi before, but now I want to start!
It’s actually quite addictive. Let me know how you get on?