Wolves Wild

After heavy rain in summer there is usually a burst of fungi before the main flush in the autumn. I noticed all these different species (grey spotted amanita, bolete, scaly earthball, clouded agaric) on the same walk in mid-August.

Pigeons paddling thigh-deep in a puddle left afterheavy overnight rain on one of the paths in West Park.

Flowers on a ragwort plant attracting a gathering of bees and hoverflies, all busy feeding on or gathering the nectar.

Common stinkhorns in Himley Plantation wood. When I saw them, they were completely lacking in stink. The full-grown fruiting bodies must have been out some time, so the sticky and stinky spore-laden slime covering of the tip was either eaten by insects or washed away by heavy rain. Nor was there any smell from the one which had not yet fully emerged, and was just breaking the surface of the ground as the so-called egg.

Another butterfly I have been noticing more than usual this summer: small whites summer. In this set, all posing, feeding on pollen or resting on leaves.

One of the flock of jackdaws at Mary Arden’s farm, Wilmcote. Sitting on a fence, its blue eyes wide open on the lookout, then striding across the ground.