Fairiesbonnets are tiny inkcap mushrooms which grow in clusters on wood. These were just above ground level on one of the trees along Tettenhall Road.
Amethyst Deceivers on a lawn
Amethyst deceivers are small mushrooms which grow in association with coniferous trees.
When they first emerge, they are brightly coloured with the hue of amethysts (lavenderish semi-precious stones). The deception which their name indicates includes their fading with age, adding to the difficulty in identifying them.
These had only just begun to fade, even though they had been around long enough for something to have eaten almost half the cap of the largest one.
Shaggy inkcaps in fallen leaves
Shaggy inkcaps growing by the side of a pavement. They had avoided being kicked over (so far) because they were almost hidden by the autumn leaf-fall.
Yellow spindle coral fungus
Yellow spindle coral fungus grows as bunches of yellow fingers, less than a centimetre high.
Despite its strong colour, it is sometimes hard to spot, even in short grass.
Web on an umbellifer seed-head
Spider’s web using the top of an umbellifer as the scaffolding. The tiny drops of water from the early morning dew help to make the strands of the web stand out.
Troop of glistening inkcaps
Glistening inkcaps are small mushrooms which grow in troops on underground rotting wood, such as the roots of former trees.
The centres of the caps of freshly emerged ones have a rich tan colour, fading towards grey at the rim of the cap. As the mushrooms age, the cap centres shift colour progressively to approach the tone of the rim.
A lasting patch may have clumps of mushrooms of different ages.
These were growing in a spot by a footpath where there are fresh eruptions of glsitening inkcaps several times a year.
Earthworm on a path
Earthworm hurrying along a canal towpath.
The orangish section, roughly one third of the body length behind the head, is the clitellum. It holds the worm’s eggs. This worm may have been in such a hurry to find a good spot for its eggs.
Bee with ivy pollen
A bee gathering pollen from ivy flowers has got a heavy dusting of the pollen on its legs and body.
Mushroom with a fibrous-looking cap
Towards the end of October, a belated fungi flush finally got underway. There were some common and familiar species, and other species which I don’t remember having seen before.
This is a species I failed to identify. As so often with this year’s pictures, it was taken on a morning after overnight rain.
Well-nibbled fly agarics
Being half-hidden in grass hadn’t protected these fly agaric mushrooms from being eaten.
