Category: David

Moss growing thickly on the top of a wall. Perhaps I was feeling whimsical that mo0rning, but it looked like a distant view of a wood of young conifers.

Every winter, small flocks of shovellers and tufted ducks gather on the lake at West Park, before dispersing again when spring arrives. On the morning these pictures were taken, the two species were occupying neighbouring patches of the water. So I could grab all these shots while standing in one place, and swivelling slightly.

Wild arum, variously also called lords and ladies, cuckoo pint and more. It grows in heavy shaded spots; here it was directly under a thick hedge at Wightwick.

More of the tiny (perhaps half an inch tall) mushrooms which seem to prefer growing from bushy moss. The moss supporting these was itself growing on one of the logs edging a footpath in Old Nursery Wood.

“When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season” – old saying, supposedly. Some gorse can be found flowering pretty much all year round.

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.