This hazelnut has been opened and eaten by a squirrel. The wood on which it is resting is a bench by the South Staffordshire Railway Walk. It is just about possible to make out the holes left behind by woodworm.
Category: David
Dryad’s saddle
A bracket fungus. The visible stage should be out in the spring and summer, but this specimen had appeared before the end of January.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davea2007/5387074899
Old oak tree in a frosty field
This oak tree was in the middle of a frosty field near Lapley. Pictured on a misty day in mid-January.
Velvet shrank mushrooms
These bright mushrooms grow from towards the base of trees.
The pictured specimens were growing on different stumps along the railway walk in the Smestow Valley nature reserve and its continuation into south Staffordshire.
Growing on a stump #3
This lichen was growing on the sawn-off top of the trunk.
Growing on a stump #2
Moss was covering this and several other bracket fungi on the stump.
Growing on a stump #1
This ear fungus was growing on a tree stump near the pools by Donington church. Other growth on the same stump tomorrow and Wednesday.
The royal oak
The oak behind Boscobel House which is claimed to be a descendant of the one where Charles II hid after the Battle of Worcester. From the road the tree does not look likely to last much longer.
The Prince Albert
One of the first sights on heading for Wolverhampton city centre from the railway station, the Prince Albert is somewhat overshadowed by the bulk of the Chubb Building.
Cross-bred ducks
Two of the four ducks on the duck pond at Boscobel House recently had a rich dark green plumage.
Blue tits and coal tits on a seed feeder
Video of the birds feeding on seeds on a sunny day in mid-January.
Canal side arm and derelict crane
This side arm comes off the Birmingham canal just by Bilston Road.
