Wolves Wild

Mature ash tree by Compton Lock, felled because of heart rot, with a view of the fungus fruiting body inside the tree trunk.

Closer view of the bullrushes which can be seen growing on the pond in the previous post. The frost had left a cap of ice on the seed heads of the plants.

Compton Park pool, early in the first cold snap this winter. Most of the water was covered in a thin layer of ice, though there was a clear patch near the inlet to the pool. It all looked surprisingly rural in the early morning sunlight.

Couple of long tailed tits enthusiastically making a meal of fat balls in a garden bird feeder.

Frost decorating a bunch of ash keys on a cold but sunny morning. I was able to take the picture from above: the keys were on a tree which had been felled because of heart rot.

Bluetit busily eating peanuts on a bird feeder.

The protective cage around the feeder makes it harder to see (and photograph) the birds. But it does mean they get the nuts, not squirrels.

Beaked earth star half-hidden in the sparse winter undergrowth under a hedge at Castlecroft.

I’ve seen this rare fungus at the same spot before, but not for three years, although I’m there quite often.

Crane fly (daddy long legs) resting on the leaves of an oak tree. Don’t expect to see until summer comes back.

Large numbers of fruiting bodies of ear fungus. They were growing along the branches of an elder tree, their preferred host, on the edge of Compton Rough.

The particular branch these were on was just above my head level.

As I’m preparing this post, the first real cold spell of winter has set in. Yet still the rain seems interminable. Depressing, even for those of us not living in parts of the country devastated by floods caused by excessive rain and human mismanagement.

So here are a few pictures of a cute fluffy chick. This cygnet was one of a brood raised by swans on West Park lake a couple of years ago.

Amber jelly roll fungus, or possibly one of several other very similar looking jelly fungus species, was growing on the same twig in Compton Rough as some golden jelly fungus.

One of the geese currently living on West Park lake, probably a Canada goose / Chinese goose cross. The bird has a distinctive line of white feathers outlining its bill.