Wolves Wild

Tree on the grassy area opposite Finchfield Library, with leaves which were turning vivid autumnal colours before the end of September.

Last year, the weather meant that most hedgerow bushes had poor crops of berries.

This year seems set for making up for it, as with the haws reddening on hawthorns all around.

The dull red-brown of dock seeds as they ripen on the plant.

Horse’s hoof is a bracket fungus with long-lasting fruiting bodies. As these age, they harden and darken so that they begin to look a little like the aforementioned appendage.

These must have only recently appeared.

Diadem spider, also know as the cross spider (from a pattern on its back) or the European garden spider.

They become particularly noticeable as autumn approaches. The females, like this one, grow large as egg time gets near.

Caterpillar stage of a small white butterfly. This one was crossing the canal towpath near Wightwick, an area where the adults had been common earlier in the year.

Reed which is beginning to shed its ripened seed. The background is an out of focus Wom Brook.

Tawny grisettes seem to have been one of the mushrooms which have had a good year this year.

These were growing on the verge of the road which runs through the Million, a Forestry Commission woodland near Enville.

The road is busy, but no-one seemed to be taking any notice of them.

Field guides say that the English name of this slime mould is the dog sick mould – it turns yellower as it gets older.

I thought that name was off-putting as a title, so instead “grubby bolster cushion”, which is a translation of one of the German-language names.

This one was growing by a path in the Cotwall End LNR.

Honey bee leaving a himalayan balsam flower. Its thorax seemed to be really pale, not just covered in pollen.

Another honey bee (dark thorax this time) approaching a similar flower.

It seems to have been a good summer for silver y moths. This one was sheltering in a spot behind old webs, showing the pale mark on its wing which gives it its name.

Shaggy parasols are one of the larger British fungi. These are fairly freshly-emerged before their caps spread to take on the parasol shape.

In this one the outer layer hasn’t even started to divide to give the shaggy appearance.

They come up around this time of year, often repeating in the same area.

These were in West Park. Pictures from nearby in previous years are here, here and here.