It’s getting towards that time of year when spiders become more visible, indoors as well as out. I’ve noticed some impressive webs. But not, so far, their occupants. These are older pictures from this time of year, which I never got round to putting online till now.
They’re all common garden spiders, sometimes called cross spiders from markings on the backs of their abdomens. And they’re all female. Like many other spider species, the females are much bigger than the males.
Bindweed flowers, coloured a delicate shade of pink. Spreading along the wall of the former lock-keeper’s cottage by Wightwick lock.
Another find from peeping over the front walls of gardens. These lurid boletes were a recent growth, but had already proved popular with some of the local wildlife – probably slugs or snails.
This year, the yews seem to have lost almost all their seeds very early, with lots brought down by winds and birds earing up what remained. I did manage to find one tree with a few still on.
They look like berries, but the seeds are actually on tiny cones. The squishy red jackets are arils: tasty to some birds, poisonous for people.
A spider’s web, visible as it caught the sunlight. I couldn’t see the spider itself, but is will have been lurking somewhere nearby, waiting for the web to catch something more substantial.
Fruits and berries are ripening. Fungi are starting to get a little more frequent. And the first changes of colour of autumn leaves has begun, starting at the extremities of the affected trees.
These are on a tall maple, growing by the lake in West Park.