One of the bullrushes at the margin of Wetland Lake, the frost only holding on on its shady side, even though the sun had not been on it for long that morning.
Heron fleeing over flooded area
The land around the river Blythe on the Packhorse Bridge Nature Reserve (Hampton in Arden) is normally marshy. After the recent rains, it has become a series of giant puddles connecting ponds and pools.
I thought I had been walking really quietly. Perhaps I was the first person who had been along the path for some time, because a heron took flight when I was still a long way from it.
Umbellifer flowering, January
Cellar cups spreading out
One of the habitats were this fungus is found is in cellars, especially if damp. But these were growing on carpeting which a gardener was using on top of a compost heap.
These had also spread so that they were losing their cup shape, unlike a previous set of pictures of this fungus.
Appaloosa pony
Pony with Appaloosa-style (or leopard pattern) coat happily grazing. A horse with a similar coat is pictured here.
Flooded alder carr
Frosty bramble leaves, Barley Field
Reaching upwards, hollyhock stem
Earth star with lid
Earth star fungus, probably Geastrum coronatum, with what appears to be a lid or protective cover detaching itself from the sporocarp, the spherical structure containing the spore-creating gleba.
I’ve never seen anything like it before, nor any reference to anything similar in my collection of Field Guilds or online – possibly because I haven’t looked hard enough.
Seen again five days later. The “lid” was raised higher, but still not separated from the rest.
Frozen footprints
The path connecting Freshwater Pool (featured yesterday) to the Barley Field in the Smestow Valley Nature Reserve passes through a narrow gap between a copse and a hedge.
After rain, the gap becomes muddy, then churned up by the heavy traffic of dog walkers, joggers and other walkers. Freezing solidifies the patterns that have been created.