David

There haven’t been many herons visible on the lake at West Park this year, at least when I’ve been there. This one was, recently. Standing on a beach on one of the islands, a spot which catches the best of the morning sun.

A fungus which looks very like the fruiting bodies have gone through a process of carbonisation. Apart from the fanciful King Alfred’s cakes, they are also known as the coal fungus, the carbon fungus and, presumably from their supposed herbal healing powers, the cramp ball fungus.

Their fiery connections don’t end there. They’re one of the species of fungus which can be used to make tinder if anyone wants to make fire the old fashioned, hard way.

These looked to have emerged fairly recently recently emerged when I noticed them. But unless they are disturbed, they could last for years.

A few of the several bracket fungi which looked not long emerged on the trunk of one of the trees by the side of a quiet residential road. I’ve no idea which species they are.

Another patch of shaggy inkcaps I came across some days after the ones in the previous post. These have pretty much got rid of all their spores, Only traces of yhr black mush (there’s probably some technical mycological term) is left at the tops of the stems.

Shaggy inkcaps, also called lawyers wigs. Although I saw these only recently, they are another species which can emerge in any but the cold months of the year. As they release their spores, the caps deliquesce, turning to a black mush heading for the centre.

These look like they were freshly emerged the night before I spotted them.

Some autumn fungi are easy to spot: big enough and bright enough to stand out from undergrowth. Small oysterlings live up to the first part of their name, less than a centimetre high. So they barely stand out from the clumps of moss which seem to be their usual substrate. They aren’t very vivid either.

These were growing on moss on the top of a stone wall, at a convenient height for macro shots on a mobile. They were at a spot where these tiny mushrooms have reappeared every year since I first noticed them.