Wolves Wild

A final set of pictures of the comma butterfly which has been today’s subject.

It kept shifting around as it fed on ivy flowers, showing itself from different angles.

The comma butterfly featured in the two previous posts: this time sunning itself perched on a nettle.

Another comma butterfly. This one was resting on a leaf of an elder bush to warm itself in the autumn sun.

Another butterfly taking advantage of of early ivy flowers: a comma.

It is holding its wings so that the underside is visible, showing the pale mark which gives the species its name.

Section of the trees round the perimeter path at West Park as they began their seasonal colour change.

Cortinarius species mushroom growing in West Park.

Cortinarius are possibly the largest genus of mushrooms worldwide.

The genus is named for the cortina, a veil which protects the gills of the newly-emerged fruiting body,

These may be Cortinarius malachius, a common species which grows in association with conifers.

Red admiral butterfly using its long tongue to feed on ivy flowers.

Ivy usually flowers from mid-October into November, attracting loads of insects because there are very few other flowers in autumn.

This year, flowers started to appear before the end of September.

Japanese knotweed: originally introduced as an ornamental; easily spread and tough to eradicate, a pernicious weed.

This one, now going to seed, is growing in the same spot by the Smestow Brook as the flowering one featured previously.

Weeping polypore, a bracket fungus, growing near the base of an oak tree right by the stile connecting Baggeridge Country Park to the grounds of Himley Hall.

This specimen looked worn enough to have been around for a while. It was still exuding liquid, though not as obviously as a fresher one.

More small inkcaps deliquescing, this time in the grounds of Himley Hall.