David

Yet another distinctive fungus which shrugs off the frost, the ear fungus. Grows on trees, favouring elder, and is often conveniently near to eye level.

Despite its hardiness, I haven’t seen a single example so far this winter. These are from a year ago, a few days after I had seen them frozen solid.

A misty winter morning, with the Dunstall Water Bridge and the bridges over both canals which join at Aldersley Junction.

The knobbly red folds around the beak of the muscovy’s beak are apparently called caruncles. This is the drake resident on the upper pool at Perton.

Another fungus which has survived the prolonged spell of overnight frosts. This wood blewit first appeared before the new year, now faded and battered.

Collared earth stars send up their exotic fruiting bodies in late autumn or early winter. Unless they’re molested, they then last through the colder months.

Most of the ones I spot seem to be half-hidden in the undergrowth below hedgerows, as these were by the canal at Wightwick.

The husks of the previous year’s rosebay willowherb always seem to hang around until their replacements grow in the spring. Here some were getting a coating of frost against a background of freezing mist.