The first full frost of the winter, exactly a month to go till Christmas. A West Park view: behind the demonstration Victorian sewage pipe re-creation, the autumn leaves on the trees behind the tea rooms.
Shaggy parasols are among the largest mushrooms in Britain, and quite common in autumn. These were growing under trees in West Park.
Carrion crow on the bank of the West Park lake, stepping carefully down to reach for a drink of water.
Once again a fungus which can be seen much of the year, not just the autumn. And not necessarily a very welcome sight. A cluster of these sprouting at the base of a tree trunk means the tree has been infected, eventually fatally.
Honey fungus is not one species, but a group of closely related species. One of these is claimed to be the largest living organism on earth right now. Spreading across the whole of a wood in Oregon, it’s estimated to weigh perhaps as much as a couple of hundred times as much as an adult blue whale.
The West Park lakeside liquidambar as featured in the post a couple of days ago, seen this time from across the lake and reflected in the water.
Turkey tail is a common year-round bracket fungus, with a cluster of small fan-shaped fruiting bodies. The white stain on the same tree stump is perhaps the white rot as the fungus digests the wood.