January 4th – Still, once I was wet there was no point in not enjoying the environment. I keep playing with this view of Clayhanger Bridge from the canal. Today, I used the bike light to highlight the railings and overflow. It seems to have worked but would have benefited from a tripod.
One day I must set out to learn what I’m doing with a camera.
January 3rd – A late, wet spin around Brownhills after another very, very wet day. Thankfully, I had a huge amount of paperwork to do for work, so at least I didn’t feel so bad about missing a decent cycling day.
Brownhills was wet, dank, and once again, oddly warm. I hardly saw a soul, and the only sounds were my wheels squelching through the puddles and of water flowing endlessly into drains.
I think I’d be better at this rate flogging the bike and starting 365daysofcanoeing…
December 31st – Remember the peculiar fungus I found a few weeks ago on Clayhanger Common – the Rosy Earthstar? Well, today I passed the same spot again and stopped to have a scout around. It seems that there were a whole bunch of them here – now the leaves have gone and the undergrowth is less dense, it can be seen there were at least 25 of these remarkable fungi.
Interesting too to see how they go over, seemingly with the ‘petals’ of the star rotting away first.
Hope we get them again next year and this wasn’t just a fluke. I’d love to watch them grow.
December 12th – A wet, horrible day, but a remarkable, surprising find – a rosy earthstar.
This curious thing, looking like plasticine or glazed ceramic, is a fungus like toadstools. It’s relatively rare, and I’ve never seen one before. It’s in a bunch of about 5 in various stages of life on a small patch of CLayhanger Common, and I spotted it entirely by chance.
A great find on a very unpleasant day.
December 10th – As I approached Brownhills, it occurred to me it was a good time to try a long exposure shot of Clayhanger canal bridge.
Now that didn’t work out too bad at all – really pleased with this.
November 28th – back in Brownhills later that afternoon, during a respite in the rain I headed to get some shopping in. On my way I noted that the lower meadow on Clayhanger Common was flooding and returning to it’s normal winter boggy state, which it’s designed to do. From the Pier Street bridge, I regarded the hardy, wind-buffeted canoeists with admiration.
For a couple of seasons, I wondered why so many craft had been motored at Silver Street at various times. It looks like there’s my answer – and now the Canal and River Trust have clocked that people are mooring here and are after money.
Let’s hope they use the proceeds to clear their marina up… it’s in a terrible state.
November 14th – A very wet, miserable day. i nipped over to Aldridge for some shopping and went via the canal in both directions. Some great fungus is growing on the banks of the new pond at clayhanger, and in a saturated state, they glistened with almost alien textures.
October 14th – Hadn’t seen these guys for a bit, but when I passed the overflow at Clayhanger Bridge, the three crossbreed mallards were having a conflab in the shallows. It was a bit like how I imagine a Roman bath-house to be, but with ducks.
What I particularly like about these chaps is that they’re always together, and that they always seem to be smiling.
October 8th – I was right about the rain and the fungi. On Clayhanger common in the morning, pleated ink caps, sometimes known as the Japanese parasol. These delicate, paper like caps only last a day, and 24 hours later, there will be no trace. They appear straight after heavy rain, their spores lying dormant until triggered by nature.
The fly agaric are also going for it. In Pleck on the canal bank, a nice crop which will surely proliferate now. Such lovely fairy-tale toadstools.
October 7th – I was right about the rain and fungus. At the weekend I bemoaned the lack of interesting fungi, particularly fly agaric, and suspected the dearth was due to the dry weather.
Cue the rains of the last couple of days, and hey presto! – A huge forest of glistening ink caps has popped up on Clayhanger Common, and the orange peel fungus I spotted a week ago has, after spending days dormant, opened out.
Rain may be an annoyance for me, but it has been needed for a few weeks.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 