Wildlife from Wolverhampton and nearby
One of this year’s cygnets on the lake at West Park, twisting and turning its neck in what looked like impossible contortions as it preened feathers on its back.
The first time we saw this year’s cygnets, when they were still young and downy, there were only two of them. Now, as they’ve grown about as big as their parents, both still appear to be thriving.
More shots of some of the cormorants, currently resident in West Park. Two of the birds, standing on the same branch of a fallen willow as they preen. Meanwhile, a third bird looks on.
Twisting and contorting as it arranges its feathers, one of the cormorants currently resident on the West Park lake, preening. The white feathers on its chest mark it as a young bird.
Fairy inkcaps are tiny mushrooms which appear in tight clusters. They grow on rotting wood, often tree stumps. Colour an vary from brown to grey.
Shaggy inkcaps, freshly emerged (above) and in various stages of deliquescing (below). The caps don’t have gills or pores to release the gills. Instead, they disintegrate into a black mush, starting at the rim and heading inwards.
Sulfur tuft mushrooms can appear during the autumn fungi flush, but they are also one of the few hardier types which can throw up new fruiting bodies even in the depths of winter.
They grow near the base of tree stumps and on fallen logs. When wet, as here, the caps can look like they have a gelatinous surface.