David

A slug eating at a small cluster of mushrooms growing by the side of the Railway Walk at Newbridge. The mushrooms had already been well nibbled.

The River Severn looking downstream from the old bridge at Bridgnorth, and views upstream from the higher level of Castle Walk.

The day of my visit was when the water level had begun to fall after the flooding of the first storm of the winter. Traces of the mud left by the flood could still be seen on the riverside footpath, and even on the seats of the benches there. The water was still high and fast flowing, with whirlpools constantly forming and dispersing where the water emerged from the arches of the bridge.

Candle snuff fungus feeds on dead wood. It can be seen throughout the year, but becomes particularly noticeable around this time. The fruiting bodies look a little like the wicks of part-used candles, short black stalks with white ends during the autumn and winter.

I learned a few days ago that the black surface of the wood forming the host of the candlesnuff is an important part of the fungus, forming a waterproof seal to give the dry conditions the fungus prefers. That was one snippet from a short BBC radio series about fungi: The Fifth Kingdom. The series was repeated on the BBC Sounds app, where it should still be available for a few more days.

This is not litter, orange peel which someone has casually dropped in the street. It’s orange peel fungus. Quite often it looks like litter at a casual glance. These gave the most convincing impressions I’ve ever seen – I had to look really closely to check it was the fungus.

A hoverfly, or more precisely some species of drone fly, resting on an ivy leaf. It was constantly moving its mouth parts, perhaps cleaning them.

A thing that never happens has happened again: a West Park tufted duck, out of the water. It’s a different tuftie this time, a female, but she’s resting on the same fallen bough.

These deceivers were just starting to emerge, peeping through the short grass. Even when full grown, they look similar to several other small brownish mushrooms, hence their name.

More pictures of fly agaric mushrooms from Bantock Park. It’s easy to see why this species is a favourite of illustrators.

A spider climbing up a long single thread of silk. I think it’s a common garden spider, a female. It was rather smaller than I’d expect of this species at this time of year. The pattern on the back of its abdomen looked right for the species: they are also sometimes called cross spiders. The huge abdomen in proportion to the rest of the body is likely because it is swollen with eggs.

A heron has been perched in the same willow on the West Park lake island for several days recently. This time, I visited the park in the early afternoon. The heron was there once again, this time asleep, or giving a veryu good impression of sleeping.