January 7th – Signs of life, and death. In Victoria Park, Darlaston, growing on an old tree stump, fresh golden pholiota. Glistening and dense, these slimy caps will dry out as they age into darker, flatter fungi.
A very unexpected splash of bright colour on an otherwise dull commute.
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 12th – The fungi are still going well, particularly the fly agaric which are particularly prolific on the canal embankment right in the heart of urban Pleck – some gorgeous specimens from young to old and weathered.
Knowing Pleck I’m surprised they haven’t been either consumed or squished…
October 26th – I popped up to Shire Oak Park on the way back, which was also looking good in its autumnal jacket. It was looking less green, but it was pleasant and tidy as it usually is.
On my return to Brownhills a splash of colour caught my eye on a verge on the Chester Road; beautiful vivid red rosebuds, and by Anchor Bridge the ink caps were growing well.
Autumn is a bit of a curate’s egg sometimes.
October 21st – I was lamenting a couple of days ago that the fungus had been poor this year – it hasn’t up on the canal bank near Wharf Lane; I never noticed before, but in a short space, tucked in with the heather and gorse are lots of toadstools.
Mostly, fly agaric, I passed these spotty red wonders a couple of days ago and never noticed.
I’d love to know what the shiny brown one is…
September 28th – On a decaying tree stump near the canal just by Bishton, these fine specimens of Dryad’s Saddle polypore fungus. They were huge – dinnerplate sized. The cellular structure on the curled edge is fascinating, too.
January 17th – I went up onto the Chase. It wasn’t an inspiring afternoon – there was a good sky, but the light was poor and it seemed to be mostly on the point of raining. The forest was stunningly bleak and beautiful as it ever is in it’s winter jacket, but the going was made tough by the sodden ground. The trails and tracks were all muddy soup, and I was covered in it.
All I want is a week or two without rain, with some bright days. I don’t care if it’s warm or cold – but snow would be nice. Just an end to this ceaseless damp.
December 19th – I headed out mid afternoon on the annual pre-Christmas pilgrimage to Packington Moor farm shop near Whittington. On the way, I spun down Barracks Lane, and the bright colour of some fungus on a tree stump snagged my eye. I stopped to take a look.
A big old tree – I think an Ash – has been cut down here in recent weeks, leaving a hollowed out bole to rot away. The cavity in the stump itself contains an odd, purple mildew, and although clearly only weeks since being cut, the fungus is working to recycle the wood, and growing in slimy, glossy bright orange clumps. I’ve no idea what they are, but they’re beautiful.
Nature reclaims most things, and is wonderful and mysterious in her processes.
As an aside, it’s clear that this tree was suffering a dreadful disease from the hollow core. To the untrained eye, there appear to have been no signs on the outside of the malady within. How do arborists know this stuff?
September 23rd – The fungi is really starting to show now. No fly agaric yet, which is my favourite of all, but I did spot this beautiful golden bracket in Victoria Park, Darlaston today. Growing on an old tree stump, it was bleeding some kind of resin and very very vivid. It appears to be some variety of polypore, but I have no idea what, and the internet and my books haven’t been helpful. The other ones are common puffballs, growing on the canal bank at Pleck. When ripe, they’ll burst and release powdery spores that drift on the wind.
In all the flora and fauna, the mycology is the most alien and beautiful to me.
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