Gosh, it's been wet down here on the south coast! Anyone up in Cumbria or the Highlands, say, will wonder what I'm getting excited about, but over two inches of rain in two days is deluge time for us.
This wet autumn does mean there are some wonderful fungi popping up. I went for a walk in a local woodland last weekend and it was ripe with them.
Most impressive were some Stinkhorns.
They were doing wonders for the local fly population, drawn indeed to its stinking horn.
Butr the array of colours and forms was so impressive. I won't pretend I can identify most of them, as this is mostly specialist territory, but it is always fun to try and identify some, such as this Black Bulgar Fungus, looking like fleshy liquorice buttons on logs:
But what a fairytale wonderland of fairy rings and parasols:
Of course, what these fruiting bodies reveal is that beneath our feet can be incredible hidden networks of fungal threads - mycelia - which are busy throughout much of the year, spreading through the earth and rotting wood, helping immensely with the decomposition process of organic matter. It is only now, for a brief window, that the fungi show themselves to those of us above ground as they send up their fruiting bodies.
However, it is only in recent years that we have begin to really understand how much these fungal networks are interacting cooperatively with tree and other plant roots. In fact, without the help of these fungal systems, many plants would struggle to get the nutrients they need to survive. Many tree rootlets are sheathed in fungi, and orchids are another prime example whose existence owes much to their fungal relationships. And it still feels like we have an incredible amount to learn about how useful they are.
So it is interesting to go into my garden after my fungal foray in the woods and see how poor it is in comparison. Fungi so often feel part of ancient systems, and my garden - for many decades apparently largely a huge chicken run - hasn't had the time and conditions to allow its fungi to prosper. Now that I've been planting trees and making meadows, log piles and stickpiles, I'm hoping - with time - I will see a rich fungal community develop.
When that happens, it will be another sign that the garden is delivering for nature in all its wonderful aspects.
If you want to drop by my RSPB wildlife gardening blog, it is updated every Friday, and I'd love to see you there - www.rspb.org.uk/community/blogs/hfw