As I was in the area anyway, I went for a second look at the collared earth stars on Compton Hill. In the two days since my previous visit, a couple of new fruiting bodies had emerged, looking like they had not yet completely opened. I couldn’t see any signs of change in the fruiting bodies which had already been there.
Magnolia in autumn, buds developing for a second flowering of the year. On a bush in the front garden of a house facing on to Bantock Park.
Nuthatch, tiny, at the base of one of the Nantock Park trees. It had climbed down the trunk, as is their wont, with something in its beak. Perhaps it was a nut. It banged it agaist the roots, two or three times. A pause, then the bird flew off.
Two pleated inkcap mushrooms, tiny and elegant, growing among the wood chip mulch in one of the beds in Bantock Park. These fungi are quite common, but they are often half-hidden, lurking in the short grass which is one of their favoured habitats.
Collared earth stars by the side of the main road near the top of Compton hill. They are sometimes called saucered earth stars, or triple earth stars, and more formally Geastrum triplex, and are by far the most common members of the earth star genus round here. There’s a chance of spotting them any time from now till early in spring.
A small clump of tall ornamental grass in one of the beds in Castle Grounds Park, Bridgnorth. In my opinion, it looks at its best in early autumn.
The first fly agaric I’ve seen this season, under a holly which was itself intruding into a beech hedge in Bantock Park. It had been extensively eaten, probably by at least two different creatures: a mollusc and a mammal.
Early evening, a short but sharp shower, and a resulting rainbow.
Two close-ups of a seed-head of a teazle as the seeds ripen towards maturity. Each seed is attached to a long spike which has a hook at the far end, perfect for getting stuck in the fur of some animal which will then disperse the seed well away from the parent plant. These close views show the spikes are covered in lesser hooks all down towards the seeds themselves.
One of the common water snails on the leaf of a bulrush, in the pool in Compton Park. The pictures which show both edges of the leaf give some idea of how tiny it was – leaf was somewhat under an inch broad.
Carrion crow standing in shallow water at the edge of the Severn in Bridgnorth. It occasionally took a beakful of water, but it wasn’t acting like it was their mainly for a drink.
Cones on a deodar, standing upright on the branch. There’s a small stand of the trees at the edge of the wildflower meadow, Bantock Park.
