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David

Toes in the water – Canada goose, West Park

Toes in the water - Canada goose, West Park

More bird activity in the large puddles in West Park left after the recent heavy rains. One of the large flock of Canada geese goose-steps through the water, stirring up the lawn below, perhaps fiinding the flooding makes it easier to catch resident invertebrates.

Toes in the water - Canada goose, West Park

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David

Sulfur tuft on mossy stump, Himley Plantation

Sulfur tuft on mossy stump, Himley Plantation

Sulfur tuft mushrooms on a mossy tree stump, Himley Plantation. Common on dead wood, as here, and sometimes also near the base of still living trees, this wood rot fungus sends out fruiting bodies up to the early part of winter, coping with mild frosts.

The spelling looks wrong (American) to this oldie. Even words sometimes change.

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David

Pink and orange: spindle tree fruit

Pink and orange: spindle tree fruit

Orange seeds with a bright pink cover, the distinctive fruits of a spindle tree. These were by the Railway Walk, opposite Cupcake Lane at Newbridge.

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David

Birch polypores, fallen trunk

Birch polypores on a fallen trunk

Birch polypores, otherwise known as razor strop fungus. Back in the days of straight-edged razors, these could be used to maintain the sharp edge of a razor needed for a close shave. Growing on the fallen trunk of a birch tree, almost certainly brought down after the fungal infection had rotted away its strength.

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David

Two swan families, River Sow, Stafford

Two swan families, River Sow, Stafford

Two sets of swans with their cygnets by the Sow at Stafford. One family by the river as it emerges from the flooded Doxey Marshes Nature Reserve; the other family resting on manicured grass on the bank as the river is about to pass through Victoria Park.

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David

Little Japanese umbrella in short grass

Little Japanese umbrella in short grass

Little Japanese umbrella mushroom on its thin stem, doing what it can to overshadow the short grass it is growing among.