Birch tree in trouble?

[goodlife]

I wonder if anybody is familiar or would have come across something like this before....[attachment=1][attachment=2]

The affected tree doesn't have any leaves at all..it is like frozen in time in stage that it was 8 weeks ago..katkins are still tight and hanging on.
It has couple of small leasons at the bottom of the trunk. Neighbouring birches has the same "webbing".. tissue like stuff on surface on the trunk but they are growing otherwise fine..green and all that..
The "webbing" is only on north-east side of the trunk..on every birch that is effected.
This has really got me going and I've been scratching my poor head for couple of days for trying to resolve what it might be....no, not lice on my head... ;)
I've been trying to call Forestry commision advisory centre but off course there is nobody available untill next week.. ::)

[goodlife]

[goodlife]

..the reason that It has got me worried is that the garden next door where I work we have had last few weeks shrubs and couple of climbers drying off..going totally crisp..and they are growing only about 20ft away from this "dead" tree...and in our side some of the birch trees have little of this webbing evident.
This big birch although being old has been fine untill now..no dying back or dropping limbs as ageing/dying birches normally do..it just look otherwise perfect just like tree in winter.. ???

[Larkshall]

I have just Googled "Birch Diseases", there is a lot of information available.

[goodlife]

Thanks Larkshall...well that is the trouble..there is so much info out there...but nothing that will match my evidence..well not quite..either we have combination of several problems..or something not usual...??

[jennym]

Forestry commission does have loads of stuff on its site, had a look and this may be what you have, although the pictures of the webbing look a bit different and they say the pest prefers oaks, but does attack birch.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/WebPRByCountryLang/89C0AF808D6B4D26802577130037DCE3

But if there are lesions at the base of the trunk, this may be what's doing most of the damage to the tree. You may find that the wood seems to be alive further up the tree (green shows when bark scraped away) but the tree could be dead at the base area. Try scraping a little bark away there.

[goodlife]

Oh...It would be exciting to find those things ::) However more I think more I'm "leaning" towards fungal growth idea...if it were insect,,I would expect to see the "silk" all over the tree and where ever this white stuff is, it is always  facing same direction..like dependent of certain light, humidity etc.
And I would expect any insect silk..web..being stretchy..but this is paper like..it rips off..
I have come across disease called slime flux..but nowhere they show proper photos..it is just mentioned in some sites that "it dries onto silvery/white crust"...???
Oh well search will go on ::) Sadly I'm one of those sad cases that thrive with a bit of challenge..?..more it involves research the merrier ;D..OH just feels neglected.. ::)

[Baccy Man]

It doesn't look like slime flux that looks like this.


The webbing looks more like the webs bark lice make but most species do not create anywhere near that much web you just get little patches here & there. The only ones that can cover a whole tree trunk tend to be native to the USA. We do occasionally get non native species imported along with plants but they usually die out in the winter. In any case the web does not damage the tree.

[goodlife]

Gosh..Baggy..where did you find that..I've been rummaging through pages and pages...Thanks!
Anyway..the other one I've been wondering that it could be..Autumnal Moth(Epirrita autumnal)..as in Scandinavia they are really troublesome beasts..they can strip large areas of birch woodland bare in spring...but then again..they do not mension in any of the web paged about silk covered tree trunks..or wether they do that quantity of silk in first place...?
Oh.. this is like reading medical/health books..every symptom..yes you got it ...with only "sore thumb" you'll end up something deadly ::)