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David

After a squirrel snack

After a squirrel meal

Discarded hazelnut shells rest on the GWR blue bricks opposite the one-time Tettenhall railway station, now the Smestow Valley Reserve Ranger Station.

Grey squirrels eat the hazelnuts while they are still green. In the long term this threatens that hazels might die out in the wild in Britain.

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David

Large cinnabar moth caterpillar on a ragwort plant

Large cinnabar moth caterpillar on a ragwort plant

This is probably the largest of the caterpillars which featured in last week’s post: this picture was taken 36 hours later than those.
Drops of water sticking to some of the creature’s hairs are the remnants of overnight rain.

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David

Fairiesbonnets in a troop

Fairies bonnets in a troop

Fairiesbonnets are tiny inkcap mushrooms – less than a centimeter high. They grow in troops.

Fairies bonnets in a troop

These two troops give some idea of the range of colour. The pictures were taken at the same time; the troops were only a couple of feet away from each other, just inside West Park’s South Gate.

Fairies bonnets in a troop

This picture shows all but a few stragglers of the patch with the paler coloured variant (middle photo).

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David

Blushing rosette

Blushing rosette

Blushing rosette, or Abortiporus biennis to give their official name, is very strange even for a fungus. 

They grow on buried wood, and are very variable in form and especially in colour. This can vary from near-white, through yellow and red (hence “blushing”), to browns like this one.

Blushing rosette

I saw this one (or is it these?) growing on one of the patches of short grass just by an entrance to West Park.

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David

Rook on Exeter cathedral lawn

Rook on Exeter cathedral lawn

This rook was searching among the short grass in front of Exeter cathedral for anything to eat.

Rook on Exeter cathedral lawn

It didn’t seem to be at all worried by people who were walking just a few yards away.

Rook on Exeter cathedral lawn

 

Rook on Exeter cathedral lawn

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David

Sloes in a hedge

Sloes in a hedgerow

The sloe crop has been very sparse this year. These were ripening growing on a blackthorn in a field boundary hedge.