A splash of bright colour for late winter. Scarlet elf cups grow on dead wood. Because they are small, and often half-hidden in undergrowth they can be quite difficult to spot.
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Reds: scarlet elf cups
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Willow with lichens in winter
Holy Trinity churchyard, Stratford on Avon, directly by the river – the river is just about visible on the left, and the church spire rises up in the background.
There’s lots of mature trees in the churchyard. Like the gravestones, they support several different species of lichens, as seen here on the trunk of this twisted old willow.
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Waxy cup fungi on a sandbag
Cup fungi, possibly cellar cup fungi, growing on old sandbags which had been left in the corner of a garden. A species which likes damp places (including cellars).
Butterbur flowering at the very start of the year – indeed, it’s possible that the flowers started to open before the end of December. These are from a patch of the plant near the chain ferry, in Stratford on Avon.
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Wagtail near the shore, Topsham
Another bird from a trip to the Exe estuary ten years ago. A muddy inter-tidal zone with a stone jetty at Topsham, a good source of food for a pair of wagtails.
Turkey tail fungus, a common bracket fungus, often found on dead and dying wood. Someimes on stumps or, as here, on fallen branches.