Wolves Wild

The winged seeds of an ash.

Bracket fungus growing on a fallen tree trunk by the railway walk in Smestow Valley.

“When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season.” This gorse was flowering before the end of January.

This honey fungus was covered with frost towards the end of January.

It’s a toadstool-shaped fungus which grows in clumps at the base of tree trunks, killing the tree in the process.

There are at least two species of lichen growing on the bark of this mature birch.

Lichen and moss growing on the trunk of a tree in a cutting on the South Staffordshire Railway Walk.

The top of a bullrush. The fluffy material is the remnants of last year’s seed.

The regimented ranks give the clue that these aren’t actually wild.

But they are still welcome as another sign that spring may at long last be almost here.

This hazelnut has been opened and eaten by a squirrel. The wood on which it is resting is a bench by the South Staffordshire Railway Walk. It is just about possible to make out the holes left behind by woodworm.

A bracket fungus. The visible stage should be out in the spring and summer, but this specimen had appeared before the end of January.

This oak tree was in the middle of a frosty field near Lapley. Pictured on a misty day in mid-January.

These bright mushrooms grow from towards the base of trees.

The pictured specimens were growing on different stumps along the railway walk in the Smestow Valley nature reserve and its continuation into south Staffordshire.