August 14th – I’m told these cherry-like fruits, growing on the trees on the Clayhanger side of the pedestrian bridge at Silver Street, Brownhills, are wild plums. They are most fascinating, and ripening in abundance.
I wouldn’t eat them, considering the history of the land they’re groin on, but the are a curiosity. Wonder how they got here?
August 6th – Whilst it’s always a good year for something, it’s also always a bad year for something else. So far this year I’ve yet to see a single hazelnut, and horse chestnuts don’t seem terribly profuse. Acorns too, seem in short supply.
Likewise, cotoneasters – beloved of blackbirds and other berry-eaters for their high sugar content seem to be having a thing year. There are plenty of ripening fruits on the branches, but they’re thin and small, caused by the lack of heavy rain I guess.
They also seem to be ripening rather earlier than usual, too. Maybe they’ll fill out in time.
August 4th – No idea what’s happened in the last couple of days, but Victoria and Kings Hill parks in Darlaston are alive with fungi. I assume these are field mushrooms – I didn’t want to destroy them to check for sure. They’re a good 3-4 inches across and look healthy. So nice to see the fungi back, even if it does herald autumn…
August 2nd – Victoria Park, Darlaston, and a sign of the advancing seasons awakens me to the idea that summer is ebbing away: earthball fungus, looking pristine and fresh growing well in the grass.
Relatives of the better known puffball (indeed, some call the pigskin poison puffball), earthballs have no aperture to let the spores escape, they merely collapse when ripe and allow the wind to do the rest.
They are mildly toxic and can cause bad reactions, including a very bad stomach and allergy-like symptoms, such as rhinitis.
Fascinating fungus though.
November 24th – A gorgeous, frosty winter morning. I had a call locally before riding on to work, so when I passed through Walsall on the canal, the autumnal colours that were still hanging on looked gorgeous.
I’d love more days like these. Refreshing, beautiful, quiet – in recent years, there haven’t been enough. I’d also like some decent snow this year.
I hope the weather gods are kind to me…
November 22nd – Despite occasional heavy showers, it was a lovely day. Not cold at all, and blessed with a gorgeous golden hour with a clear sky. I headed back to Brownhills via the canal, and the wonderful light set everything aflame.
There are loads of what I think might be imperial caps growing where the embankment has been recently mown at Clayhanger. Damned opportunist fungi…
A fine time to be out, despite an unpromising, damp start. Those autumn colours were wonderful.
November 19th – I forget every year how good Telford’s roadside verges are for fungi. On the backroads and industrial estates were people rarely walk, the mycology goes undisturbed, and a huge variety grow.
On a cold, dew-laden morning, a variety of Melanoleuca, a large family of toadstools which are beyond my ability to tell apart. I love the bleach-white gills, and the way they’ve split under their own weight.
November 16th – A grim ride, mostly in rain, up to Chasewater and back round by Brownhills Common. It wasn’t cold, but the light was atrocious and it didn’t feel great to be out to be honest. Some great views at Chasewater, though, with that wonderful colour from yesterday. I see the grebes are in winter plumage now, and the waterline on Jeffrey’s Swag and the North Shore could have been Penmaen.
Mr. Whiskers was the first cat I’ve ever seen on the north shore. He did’t seem to be lost.
Back in Brownhills, a lone cygnet made the canal view complete, and winter marigolds guerrilla planted by Becks Bridge on the Pelsall Road raised a smile.
Hope the weather improves soon.
November 14th – After a late night, an very early start riding into the wind in horrendous rain. It was probably the worst ride for years. The waterproofs kept me mostly dry, but I arrived drained and down in the dumps.
Out and about popping to the cafe in the morning after the rain stopped, it was nice to see the last remnants of autumn hanging on – bright red, rain-glossed berries and beautiful yellow oak leaves cheered me no end; as did the smell of wet, fresh earth, making a pleasant change from the normal metallic scent of the Black Country.
After a good butty and a bit of space, the day improved.
November 1st – Yes, it’s November, and the sun is warm and the landscape still perceptibly green. The weather this year has been nuts. It was very windy, and I was, to be quite frank, knackered. I had some shopping to do so headed out to Pelsall and then up the cycleway and canal to Sainsbury’s at Reedswood. The wind was punishing, but it was a lovely day – and I did get blown home, so it wasn’t all bad.
And yet again, great skies.
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