Wolves Wild

Unmistakable and, when the light catches their normally black feathers, beatifully iridescent.

These blooms are now more advanced, as here in this patch by Himley Hall yesterday.

Every hundred yards or so between the Compton and Windmill Lane bridges on the Staffs and Worcs canal, there is a wintertime little grebe territory belonging to a different individual or pair.

This bird is nearest the Windmill Lane end.

This tree seen through its reflection in the Staffs & Worcs canal.

A hungry robin grabs some peanuts on this birdfeeder.

Tracks left by a badger in the most recent fall of snow.

In the hard weather a kingfisher stands out perching on a tree by the side of a canal.

The last remaining seed case clings to one of last year’s stems on this plant.

Yet another fungus growing directly from dead wood, and apparently unaffected by the cold weather.

Another fungus which is not worried by the cold – this velvet shank was growing from the trunk of a long-dead chestnut in the car park of the former Eye Hospital.

The scars of the old leaves can also be seen – the white horseshoe shapes.

Once the frosts start, most of the larger fungi disappear. The main exception are brackets which grow directly from the trunks of trees – here a fallen birch.