Margarite flower

Margarite flower

Attractive cultivated daisy, with the flower and as yet unopened buds earlier this month.

Hoverfly feeding on an ivy flower

Hoverfly feeding on an ivy flower

Ivy comes into flower in October, one of the latest plants to do so.

The flowers don’t look spectacular to the human eye, but they attract lots of feeding insects, especially when the sun comes out.

This hoverfly was just one of many insects feeding on ivy growing by the canal towpath near Compton.

Blackening waxcap on a lawn

Blackening waxcap on a lawn

Blackening waxcap which had well and truly blackened. I noticed it on the front lawn of a house near the Castlecroft shops.

Compton Park water feature

Bridge over the Graiseley brook

Pool with a brand-new wooden bridge over it.

The pool is on the course of the Graiseley brook, previously culverted, shortly before it joins the Smestow. It has been created as a centrepiece of the housing estate being developed on part of Compton Park in association with the upgrading of the Wolves training ground.

Fly agarics almost hidden under grass

Fly agaric almost hidden under grass

Fly agarics growing beside a footpath popular with joggers and dog-walkers.

Fly agaric almost hidden under grass

These were hard to spot under the grass. Others had been more prominent, so they had been kicked over.

Half-grown moorhen chick

Half-grown moorhen chick

Although this moorhen chick on the canal at Compton is half-grown, and should probably have learned to be wary of humans. It swam towards me.

Half-grown moorhen chick

Perhaps it was expecting to be fed.

Half-grown moorhen chick

Wild carrot flowers

Wild carrot flower

My ageing guide books claim that wild carrot flowers from June to August. This was one of many wild carrots by the towpath of the Birmingham Canal which was still flowering earlier this month.

Wild carrot flower