This small flock of gulls frequent the playing fields of Compton Park when there is little human disturbance. Most are black headed gulls, but the juvenile, with what looks like mainly grey feathers, is a different species, probably lesser black backed.
Category: David
Larch bolete
Blackening waxcap
Panther cap
Autumn is the peak time for fungi, so that’s why they are dominating the posts at the moment.
The panther cap is not a particularly common mushroom, but this one was growing right by a canal bank near Compton.
This specimen seems to have proved a reliable food source for something small in the way of the local wildlife. All pictures are of the same individual. The top two are views from the side and top; the lowest picture was taken a couple of days earlier as the toadstool emerged, already nibbled at.
Funnel-shaped mushroom
The Prince
This series of pictures are of two fruiting bodies of the same fungus.
The top two pictures show the toadstools directly from above.
These next two show the same toadstools from the side, in the same order.
These two pictures show the so-called ring, the structure around the stem.
This final picture shows how the two were located in relation to each other.