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David

Also not very common

Also not very common

Gull on the railing at the edge of the West Park lake. Most winters there seems to be one common gull on the lake joining the flocks of lesser black backed gulls and black headed gulls.

I thought this was the most recent example. Wrong. It’s a lesser black backed as it moves from juvenile to adult – an easy mistake to make, apparently.

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David

Not very common

Not very common

Common inkcaps growing on wood chip mulch in Bantock Park. Despite their name, I notice them less often than shaggy inkcaps.

Common inkcaps are anatural source of the chemical used in aversion therapy as a treatment for alcoholism.

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David

Bunches of beauty

Bunches of beauty

Clustering in bunches on the bushes, the berries on purple beautyberries live up to their name. These in West Park, between the floral display area and the lake.

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David

Collared earthstar by a quiet road

Collared earthstar by a quiet road

Merridale Grove, a narrow and quiet street, so small I must have passed it hundreds of times over they years without even noticing it’s there and, it turned out, closed off with a gate at the Finchfield Road end.

Underneath a roadside hedge mainly formed of leylandii, a collared earthstar.

Collared earthstar by a quiet road

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David

Colours (acer, Finchfield)

Colours (acer, Finchfield)

An acer in a garden opposite Bantock Park which had still kept most of its leaves late last month. And such a striking combination of autumn colours.

Colours (acer, Finchfield)

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David

Brittlestem and more

Brittlestem and more

Brittlestem mushrooms, possibly conical brittlestems – though conical caps are usual on brittlestems.