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David

Brightning up autumn: acer leaves

Brightning up autumn: acer leaves

Acer leaves turning bright autumn colours on a bright sunny morning. West Park has small groups of Japanese acers, planted among the other trees and bushes in several different sopots in the park. They have been chosen so their leaves turn different tints in the autumn. These are from trees near the tea rooms.

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David

Yet another set of heron pics

Yet another set of heron pics

It’s back at a favourite spot: West Park’s most frequent heron visitor, catching the sun perched in a willow on the island. Looks like it may be a regular visitor again this winter.

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David

Shaggy inkcaps, recently emerged

Shaggy inkcaps, recently emerged

Shaggy inkcaps, one very recently emerged in a field near the canal at Compton. Another on the lawn in front of Wolverhampton College, had had just a little more time to develop.

Their caps spread a little, though they never get much wider than an “almost closed umbrella” position of the one outside the college. Then the shedding of spores, as the caps deliquesce: turning into a black slime which can be used to make a kind of ink.

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David

Pinkedge bonnet (perhaps)

Pinkedge bonnet (perhaps)

Tiny mushrooms, Himley Plantation. The tightly clustered group were growing on a fallen trunk, the more scattered individuals on a still standing tree. They may have been pinkedge bonnets (Mycena capillaripes).

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David

Glistening, rotting: vibernum berrries

Glistening, rotting: vibernum berrries

Lots of bright vibernum (guelder rose) berries glistening in the sunlight. They look like they should be tempting for hungry birds, but they seem to get ignored. Already, some are shrivelling and rotting on the bush.

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David

Mushroom mass on mossy fallen trunk, Himley Plantation

Mushroom mass on mossy fallen trunk, Himley Plantation

A mass of mushrooms growing from a moss-covered fallen tree trunk in Himley Plantation. iNaturalist IDed them as sheathed woodtufts (Kuehneromyces mutabilis)