David

The last snowdrops I saw in 2019, that is, the first I saw flowering this winter. Growing in a sheltered spot in the garden at Hall’s Croft, Stratford on Avon.

Common helvella (Helvella crispa) – a.k.a. white saddle fungus or elves’ saddles. Woodland fungi, these growing under trees by the path round Perton pool. There were some in the same spot last winter.

Pair of jackdaws on the lookout high in one of the trees at Northycote Farm.

Young swan by the inlet at Perton pool, stretching its neck to reach the bottom to find osmething to eat.

Ice crystals rising from the top of a fallen log, on a frosty morning recently at Northycote Farm.

Collared earth stars, a distinctively-shaped fungus species. In this area the fruiting bodies seem to appear in the late autumn (perhaps just because the undergrowth hiding them dies back). Once they do show up, they usually stay around all winter unless someone kicks them over.

These were by the wooded section of the footpath between the two pools at Perton. Perhaps a dozen returning to the same area where they have been in previous years.