David

The rich reds of the berries and greens of the leaves: it can only be holly. The upper picture also has a small inconspicuous cricket – it’s on the upper edge of the leaf below the berries.

When they are fully out, earth stars look like some kind of alien flower.

At an earlier stage, their relationshop to puffballs is more obvious.

This mushroom had obviously already provided a good meal for something.

Milk caps are a group of mushroom species which exude a fluid when damaged. In some of these species the fluid resembles milk in colour and consistency. In other species the colour is different, or changes gradually on exposure to air.

This small flock of gulls frequent the playing fields of Compton Park when there is little human disturbance. Most are black headed gulls, but the juvenile, with what looks like mainly grey feathers, is a different species, probably lesser black backed.

This mushroom always grows in symbiosis with … a larch tree.