Warty!

These are the fruiting bodies of the fungus Beech Woodwart  (Hypoxylon fragiforme). As the name suggests, usually to be found on dead beech trees. Hypoxylon is derived from two Greek words meaning under and wood, whilst the specific epithet fragiforme means strawberry-like. This refers to the appearance of the warts and certainly not to their  taste or texture!

Yesterday's mystery object was a mole hill. The mole was digging in an area of wet sand and the wet spoil from the tunnel has been squeezed out of the shaft like toothpaste from a tube. Being wet it had retained the shape of the tunnel. Gatekeeper was on the right track with "wet sand".