For my birthday, I decided I wanted to go mushroom hunting. Mushroom hunting here in the Netherlands is very different than in the Northwest - generally, you should take a camera rather than a bucket. Most of the mushroom species in the Netherlands are endangered. Nonethless, if photos are what you are after, the Netherlands is fairly fungally fruitful. August is a bit early, but it had been cool and rainy for a couple of weeks, so I decided to give it a try.
The first and perhaps best thing we found that day were a group of earth tongues growing on a rotting log. They are tricky to photograph, being black and fond of growing in dark places, but I managed to get a couple good shots.
I can find no comment on the glistening black droplets that dotted many of this group. I would guess it's something to do with the spores, but most ascomycetes carry their spores all over the exposed surface. They did appear to be part of the fungus, and not baby snails.
A small, shaggy-stalked mushroom that might be a relative of a honey mushroom. It lacks the felty veil typical of honey mushrooms, and wasn't obviously growing on wood.
A diminutive member of the Bolete family. The mushroom in total was about the size of my thumb. With its slightly viscid cap and large-ish pores (for its size) it may be a member of the genus Suillus. Its coloring was similar to B. edulis, but it clearly lacks the reticulations on the stalk.
A felty-capped orange mushroom, growing on rotten wood. One of these days I'll get a good ID guide for the Netherlands.