Autumn leaves: liquidambar, West Park

Autumn leaves: liquidambar, West Park

The vivid autumn leaves of a liquidambar tree in West Park. All pictures are of the same tree in West Park.

Autumn leaves: liquidambar, West Park

Close-ups of the leaves were shot from a park bench directly under the tree’s canopy. The full tree was as seen from different spots further round the lake.

Autumn fungi: verdigris mushrooms

Autumn fungi: verdigris mushrooms

The bluish colour looks unnatural, and not really quite the same as the patina formed on corroded copper. The glutinous appearance of dampened caps is also characteristic.

Autumn fungi: verdigris mushrooms

The colour of these mushrooms had already weakened slightly after heavy rain. As they age, the colour carries on fading. While even traces remain, the species is unmistakable.

Autumn flowers: fatsia, West Park

Autumn flowers: fatsia, West Park

Fatsia, starting to flower so late in the year that almost all other plants have already gone to seed. These were developing on one of the several bushes planted near the lakes in West Park.

Shrewsbury waterfowl: lone goosander

Shrewsbury waterfowl: lone goosander

Just a few yards from where the greylag geese were feeding, a sandy beach where a lone goosander was busy preening. It was probably a juvenile.

We went back the next day. Heavy rain overnight meant the sandy beach had disappeared, as has the goosander and the geese.