October 15th – I’m sure readers must be fed up of autumn colours and my obsession with fungi. For this, I apologise, but I do love the mycology and the best thing about autumn is the colour…

Noted today at Bentley Mill Way Aqueduct on the Walsall Canal – Lactarius of some description, commonly known as milk caps. I think this one may be a slimy milk cap, but there are s many types, without destroying them it can be impossible to tell.

The look like they’re decaying, but they aren’t; they look old, but they’re quite fresh. Again, I love the featheriness of the exposed gills. They were growing right on the edge of the towpath where vegetation had been cut back over the summer.

Fungi can be remarkably tenacious.