David

The slightest breeze was enough to add an arty blur to this close-up of autumnal leaves.

The Japanese acers which are planted at various spots in West Park have now begun to put on their annual display of autumn colour. What is noticeable is the variation between the displays of the different trees. I don’t know whether this is because they are different species, or that different parts of the park have different micro-climates. These pictures were all taken within a few minutes of one another last week.

These tiny mushrooms were growing on the rotting trunk of a fallen tree, along with an even smaller-leaved liverwort.

The overgound buildings survive the mine’s closure in 1969, but the surroundings are reverting to nature. Most of the former mine area and the spoil heaps are now reused as part of the South Shropshire Country Park, but this is just outside that park’s boundary.

< https://www.flickr.com/photos/davea2007/6175481726This heron and gull were studiously ignoring each other’s presence – and mine.https://www.flickr.com/photos/davea2007/6175481120

These cones didn’t look like they had ripened completely, but already something had begun to nibble them.

Close-up of a fairy ring mushroom. Although another can be seen in the background, there was no ring this time.

Trees beginning to take on the shades of autumn in the grounds of Himley Hall a couple of days ago.

This was a late flower I saw at the start of the month.

At the foot of the small sandstone hill behind Himley Hall are a couple of bricked-up artificial caves. They are the former ice houses for the Hall, just a short step from the kitchens, and built into the easily draining rock so that the water from the melting ice would just percolate away.