Ear fungus growing on an elder by the Smestow Valley Railway Walk.
These pictures taken before the recent cold and snowy patch, but the fungi are still there. They are a species which shrug off being frozen solid and being thawed out again, and can be found at any time of year.
Mistlethrush eating white rowan berries during the recent snowy period. A corner of the roof of the West Park tearoom makes an appearance in the background.
Deceiver mushrooms covered in frost. Growing on wood-chip mulch, pictured on the chilly morning of Christmas Day.
Snow a few days ago, a fat ball feeder. House sparrows were the main customers, as they have been all this winter
A tight cluster of sulfur tuft mushrooms hiding under a rhododendron bush in West Park, a spot where some grow about this time every year.
This picture taken before the recent spell of snow and ice. The mushrooms will still be there – this is one of the minority of species which can survive freezing solid then thawing out again.
They’ve melted away not – perhaps they realised that lockdown number three was coming. Here are a few snowmen I noticed on my walks in the past few days, and one snow dog for variety.