#365daysofbiking Little stars:
October 16th – Barley light on a damp, but not raining morning in Darlaston on the verge outside my workplace, the shrooms were rising to shine.
I’m not sure what the lovely chestnut brown ones are – possibly some strain of inocybe – but their colour was rich and deep and rather wonderful.
Nearby, the early light caught one parasol, sheltering a second, presumably from the night’s rain.
Sorry, but I really am finding the fungus fascinating this year.
#365daysofbiking Appreciating the damp:
October 15th – The rain of the last few days continued – a steady, irritating, invasive drizzle. It was a horrid wet and cold commute.
But like Friday, it redeemed itself – with fungi.
I found my first tiny, sodden Japanese Parasol of the season on the grass by the canal near the Bridgman Street bridge. This tiny, pleated toadstools don’t last twenty-four hours and there will be no trace of it tomorrow. A real fleeting beauty.
Darlaston’s earthstars were also looking good and apparently thriving in the wet.
I just wish I was…
#365daysofbiking Red is the colour:
October 11th – On the industrial estate where I work, a grim, overcast morning was brightened considerable for yet another wonderful display of cotoneaster berries.
This shrub – for some reason like pyrocanthus – is beloved of industrial estate landscapers, presumably for the late colour. But cotoneaster is much more – the tiny flowers in high summer are beloved by bugs and bees, and come the cold winter days, blackbirds and other passerines will feast on these nutritious berries.
Such a welcome splash of autumn colour.
365daysofbiking Noble jacket:
October 5th – Darlaston is probably at it’s very best in autumn. An indisputably industrial, highly urbanised Black Country town with a huge amount of greenery, it wears the multi-coloured noble jacket of autumn beautifully.
In Victoria Park, looking towards the Mystic Bridge, autumn is just starting to paint the trees in shades of yellow, gold and orange.
The sadness of the summer’s loss is now passing, and I’m quite enjoying the change in the scenery.
#365daysofbiking Stars on earth:
October 4th – Returning early this year, on a patch of edgeland on the industrial estate in Darlaston near where I work, one of the most remarkable fungi I’ve ever seen: an earthstar.
Just a couple at the moment, but one is deformed: but these bizarre organisms, when in their prime are stunning. A buff-coloured puffball emerges as it’s casing unfurls in almost petal-like sections around it, forming a star.
They look like they’re made of modelling clay or ceramic. They are absolutely astounding to see.
I adore fungi. It’s so unlike anything else.
#365daysofbiking The united colours of autumn:
October 3rd – After the rain of the night before, the morning commute was warm, dry and almost humid. I made the very best of it by riding the canal the long way, and wasn’t disappointed – the autumn colours are very beautiful this year, and the canals and wooded areas of Darlaston are absolutely gorgeous.
There are some upsides to the time of year after all.
#365daysofbiking Bugging me:
September 26th – The unexpectedly fine, warm weather has been bringing out some great examples of bugs looking for a last yahoo or somewhere to hibernate until spring.
On my way to work, this lovely shield bug decided to drop in and say hi.
What a great little creature it is!
#365daysofbiking How do you like those apples?
September 24th – Interesting to see this year the large crop of healthy, plump fruit, which has turned my understanding on its head: I always thought that in hot, dry summers fruit harvests suffered.
This autumn, the hedgerows, commons and woods are populated by trees laden with fruit – from hazelnuts to apples, beech nuts to pears, it’s been a fine harvest.
These apples growing by the canal at Darlaston actually look delicious, but sadly, well out of passing reach…
#365daysofbiking Sparser:
September 18th – The flowers are getting sparser now, and soon the only real blooms will be the gorse, and the odd winter stragglers. On the grass verge outside work, the birdsfoot trefoil – egg and bacon – is still going strong, and you can see well how it found its name: the seed heads look like bird’s feet.
#365daysofbiking The rise and gall:
September 12th – I’ve been watching the robin’s pincushion gall I found in Darlaston mature as the weeks pass by. I’m interested to see if it shows any sign of being vacated by the insects who grow inside it, and also observe how it decays, to find out what’s under the ‘fur’.
It’s grown redder, and the fur seems to be dying away, with a cavity open on the upper side. I wonder if the wasps have left?
These creations of parasites – unique to wild and dog roses – are absolutely fascinating and I’ll be keeping an eye on this one as autumn draws on.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 