Littleferry Again

We were at Littleferry again this morning, walking through the forestry along the shore of Loch Fleet with the tide high and several seals visible, though little else of great note. One of the seals surprised us by making a repeated noise, a cross between a hoarse dog barking and an old man gargling.

We came through to Littleferry itself, spending some time on the stone jetty enjoying the views and the sunshine as the tide picked up speed with the ebb. Then, walking back though the hamlet we spotted....

....this building, which we recognised immediately having seen a similar one at Fascadale on Ardnamurchan. It's an ice house, built in the early years of the 19th century to preserve salmon caught, presumably, before the causeway at the Mound cut off Loch Fleet from the River Fleet. At Fascadale there were extensive fields used to trap water to freeze for the ice: there's nothing similar at Littleferry, so perhaps the ice was, somehow, imported.

Fungi were, once again, one of the highlight of our walk. This one, slightly chewed, is cup-shaped and about 2cm across but I haven't yet been able to identify it. I had expected something so distinctive to be easy but its absence from the more straightforward websites suggest it might be a little unusual.

This fungus seems to have a down-covered cap and, at first sight, looked like a puffball but, now that I'm trying to be a little serious about these fungi, I....

....did something I really don't like doing, I pulled it up to look at the underside - which immediately proved it was a gill, not a puffball. Not that this has helped much as, once again, I haven't identified it with any certainty.

Maybe I should stop worrying about identity and, instead, simply celebrate the amazing variety of fungi and, very often, their startling beauty. Yet.... well, I really would like to know what this one is.