Wolves Wild

Another visit to Bridgnorth’s Castle Grounds, one day later. Still only one fruiting body of the magpie inkcap fungus. In twenty four hours more of the remains of the veil have been shed showing the black of the cap beneath.

Magpie inkcap fungus growing on wood chip fungus under a tree in Bridgnorth’s Castle Grounds. There have been magpie inkcaps growing in this area in late autumn for several years now. But when I checked in mid-November this year this fruiting body was standing all alone. The veil had only just begun to break up on the cap revealing the black below, so the mushroom had probably only emerged the previous night.

Two herons on opposite sides of West Park’s boating lake island, on a yopung bird, the other mature. When I noticed them one recent lunchtime, each was preening, and was standing hunched so their heads were hidden or hard to make out.

Views of the Malvern Hills’ highest peak, Worcestershire Beacon, with the Shire Ditch leading up the slope. The Ditch is an impressive historic earthwork, which runs for several miles just below the crest of the Malverns. Its original purpose is lost in the mists of time: it might have been created in the bronze age. But it was surely a territorial marker. It still forms a stretch of the boundary between Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

The glory of beech leaves in their autumn colours. The first picture is of a tree growing from a sheer rock face by the little road to St Anne’s Well in Great Malvern. The others, closer to home, are of a tree growing by one of the main roads into Wolverhampton. Closer views of the leaves concentrates on their subtle colours while excluding the distractions of street furniture and passing traffic.

The sight of a kestrel out hunting is sadly not as common as it used to be only a few decades ago. This one was high over the Malvern Hills, hovering in one fixed position, moving to a different spot, then hovering again.