We visited the woods on December 30 : quite a glorious day as it happens and not at all cold.

There were signs of wind damage :

The above was down in the little valley of Eastern Stream. The stream itself was flowing well.

In the root ball of another fallen tree nearby were the first signs of spring, bluebell shoots :

The above was close to the ponds in Titania’s Bower

And this one was close to the entrance to Knelle Wood South

What surprised us was the amount of fungal sporing bodies in evidence. We definitely need to brush up on our fungus ID capabilities!

Is this Honey Fungus?

We believe this is Ramaria botrytis

The first of three examples of a black fungus – or is it the result of frost damage?

Possibly Craterellus cornucopioides?

This is heavily disguised but is it Craterellus cornucopioides?

A pale trumpet fungus

We decided that this must be Coriolus versicolor