Colinton Dell on a wintry day

It's a lovely winters day out there, cold and slightly frosty but still and clear.

A couple of months ago someone had told me there were earthstar fungi in Colinton Dell, but foolishly I never asked exactly where, so I've been searching ever since. Finally today I found them, past their best, their stars almost rotten away, but still worth taking a photo of, and next year I'll know where they are and I'll see them earlier in the year. Assuming they come up again next year, I know fungi can be unreliable like that.

The larch tree that I've been stusdying for Tree Following looks beautiful in the winter sun

Also an amazing selection of birds today. A total of 15 mallards (unusual for this stretch of the river these days), 5 goosanders (a record for my observations in Colinton Dell), 8 bullfinches in one tree (probably the most adult bullfinches I've ever seen in one place), two medium sized flocks of redwings and lots of long tailed tits everywhere. Plus other birds too.