A mossy day between sleet showers

Forewarned is forearmed and the weather forecast said wintry showers so waterproof trousers, a drybag for the camera, and a bucket for moss samples was the order of the day this morning for a wee tramp up the hill on a moss search. I'm getting to the stage now where I often have some idea of what kind of moss I'm looking at, though that's restricted to the four dozen or so that I'll find on our bit of the boggy brae.




Today I found:

Common Tamarisk Moss, as always,
(Thuidium tamariscum) (upper) and



Greater Fork Moss (Dicranum majus)

Dicranum majus

Little Shaggy Moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus)

also with D.majus

Swan's-neck Thyme Moss (Mnium hornum)

Some of the "swans' necks"

Some very damp Mamillate Plait Moss
(Hypnum andoi or mammillatum)

Wet moss–Hypnum andoi on a branch

Lots of young haircaps on what I think is Common Haircap Moss (Polytrichum commune)

Silhouetted Rusty Swan-neck Moss (Campylopus flexuosus)

The sphagnums seem like a whole new field! This one is Blunt-leaved Bog Moss (Sphagnum palustre).

I got back to the house just before a heavy fall of fiercely slanting sleet. There have been a few more showers throughout the day and there is new snow on the hills.