Wildlife from Wolverhampton and nearby
The white flecks or warts on the cap of this toadstool are the remnants of a veil which surrounds the mushroom as it pushes up through the soil.
Rain will wash them off, leaving a pure red cap, as here. The yellow marking near the apex is where something has begun to nibble at the fungus.
Further rain, especially heavy rain, will also begin to leach away the bright red colour, leaving oranges or yellows. Such can be seen in this rather bedraggled specimen.
Most of the seeds of this plant have now dried and been scattered.
Other nearby hogweeds are still showing flowers, although they are getting rather straggly
In shape, it looks like a tiny, squashed cup, without any visible stem.
Grows on open soil under trees.
These are new specimens. Very soon, they become paler on the outer surface, and more and more resemble fragments of discarded orange peel to a casual glance – a process which has gone a little further along in the specimens below.
The classic toadstool of fairy story illustrators.
Don’t try at home to test out its hallucinogenic properties: the toxic chemicals which cause this effect are as likely to give some very unpleasant, and just possibly fatal, symptoms.
In Britain, this mushroom is always found close to birch trees.
Not an apple, but a mutant leaf forming the cradle for the larva of a gall wasp.
The hole is where the larva eventually came out.
The snowy wax cap, Hygrocybe nivea, is bright white in colour.
Despite this, it can be hard to spot lurking in short grass in places like sportsfields or lawns.
Bright colours aren’t always a sign that something should not be eaten.
During the second world war, schoolkids were sent to pick rosehips, which are a rich source of vitamin C.
This tiny and brightly coloured mushroom doesn’t have a common English name. Bolbitius vitellinus can be found hiding in short grass. Like many things in nature, its colour is the clue that it shouldn’t be eaten.
These mushrooms, growing through moss, were only about a quarter of an inch high.
This moth was attracted to settle on a window by the brightness of the house lights.
The feathery antenna is a characteristic feature of this species.