June 14th – A dry commute to work (but sadly, not back) was a novelty. It was grey, and I never felt quite safe from the threatening skies but the blessed absence of rain was nice.
Victoria Park in Darlaston looks lush and green as one would expect in such a wet season. The mystic bridge I stood on to take photos from, however, was slippery with algae and lethal, so take care!
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July 16th – In Telford, I noticed that following the dry summer, the rowan berries were ripening well, but not large; they look dry, rough and on the verge of shrivelling.
It’ll be interesting to see if other fruits are similarly affected.
It’s a long time since we had a dry summer like this.
July 6th – No apparent issues with the thistles this year, however. In fact it seems a good year for them – prickly and purple, they are flowering well and in larger number than I’ve seen for a good few years – so as I suspect, water probably isn’t an issue for them like the berries, hips and haws of the hedgerows above.
The colours – from pale lavender to deep, dark purple – are always a joy. Thisles are very underrated indeed in my opinion.
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…
October 31st – The mornings have been damp over the weekend, and we’ve had a little rain in what has generally been a very dry autumn indeed. This has led to the fungus taking a surge, and I noted in the canal cutting through Pleck this morning there was lots of fly agaric growing, some of which were astoundingly large. Contrary to my earlier fears, it actually seems to have been their year after all.
Meanwhile, the toadstools I found on the log at the back of Queen Street Cemetery have turned a gorgeous orange brown colour as they mature and die off.
Lets hope with a little damper weather, more fungus will appear. I love to see it.
October 27th – Spotted in Victoria Park, Darlaston, this field mushroom. All on its own, it’s mates had either been picked, or not turned up – but this was a splendid specimen, and quite rare so far this year due to the dry autumn we appear to be having.
It’s a strange autumn when you can’t find enough wild mushrooms for a senescent omelette!
July 25th – A horrid, horrid ride home. I had to take a trip into Birmingham on my return from work, and I caught the train out. On my return from the station, it rained the sort of fine, penetrating rain that searches out every not-quite closed zip and aperture on your jacket, and just soaks you. But far, far worse than being wet were the road conditions.
The first rains after a dry spell are always bad – but if they aren’t heavy, the surface water they precipitate mixes with road grime, tyre detritus, spilled fuel and oils and makes a soapy, foamy, slimy emulsion that steals wheels from under you. I slid a couple of times. I head cars skid at junctions. It was awful.
I was glad to get home, just as the rain stopped. There hasn’t been enough rain to wash this away yet, so watch out the next time we have wet weather.
Be careful out there folks.
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.
October 4th – The fly agaric are a bit thin on the ground this year, probably due to the dry autumn. I only found two in my favourite spot on the canal, and they had both been nibbled.
I love these toadstools. I hope that if we do have rains this week that the grow in profusion like previous years. There’s something magical about them.
November 23rd – It seems Staffordshire County Council – who’ve not been running Chasewater for long since taking it over from Lichfield District Council – are getting themselves into a bit of a pickle with the boating/duckpond at the country park.
When Lichfield were responsible for the park, the rangers hosed down the surrounding paths, and water changes were common for the pool, so that it didn’t get stagnant and contaminated by too much bird poo. When Staffordshire took over, this regimen seems to have been abandoned; they laid a new hardstanding here in the summer, and within weeks it was encrusted with excrement, as it wasn’t being washed anymore. When it was washed, the water was so polluted in the pond, it was almost luminous green.
The pond was soon drained for ‘a change of water’ – that was weeks ago, and how the pond, it’s new hardstanding and benches are fenced off, still empty.
I’ve asked around; it seems there’s an issue with de-silting a valve and whether pond water can be drained into the main lake now it’s an SSSI; but had the previous maintenance pattern been followed, none of this would have been an issue.
During the summer, there were brave statements about Chasewater being reborn; about it becoming Burntwood by the Sea. Fat chance – Staffs can’t even sort a duckpond.
I’m beginning to think that they couldn’t find their own arses with both hands, a map and a qualified arse-finder for guidance.
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