Flaming

Although there were many chores that I should have been getting on with, I couldn't stay inside on such a perfect autumn day, so after breakfast I headed off to Southey Wood. I'd not planned to stay long, but returned home after four hours of slow mooching, hunting for fungi and appreciating the splendour of the planted beech, in all its autumn finery. 

The fungi weren't as numerous as I was expecting, but included some interesting species including a single Wrinkled Peach on a fallen elm, a Willow Shield (on another elm) and a small colony of Scarlet Bonnet on a fallen larch (see extra). The English name of this tiny fungus is a bit misleading, as it's only scarlet when it first emerges and gradually fades to salmon pink and then whitish, particularly during wet weather. Each of the caps are less than a centimetre wide, so it may be overlooked, but this is the only site I know for it round Peterborough.

By the time I returned home it had been confirmed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had trounced Trump - huge sighs of relief all round and an American style celebration dinner of Jerk Chicken preceded by a homemade quince gin. I hadn't realised quite how tense I'd been till it was all over.