November 16th – Not sure what this large fungus actually is, but it was handsome and glistening with collected dew and rainwater as I passed through Victoria Park in Darlaston in the early morning.

To my sadness, the fungi haven’t been terribly prolific this year – some did explode into life late, like the fly agaric, but this year I’ve hardly seen any puffballs, very few shaggy ink caps and the brackets seem well down too.

I do hope the unusually dry autumn hasn’t scuppered chances of seeing rosy earthstars at Clayhanger again…