I love autumnal mornings.  Dew-laden cobwebs look so magical emerging from the mist.  It didn't take long for the sun to burn through this morning: temperatures are set to be above average for a few days but we have had just enough rain for fungal spore bearing bodies (mushrooms and toadstools) to be everywhere.

  The range of fungi will increase as we head through the Autumn but there are lots of Agaricus species popping up already.  These are the classic mushrooms that many people eat but I never encourage people to eat them as not only do you have to be sure that they won't poison you, the chances are that they will already be infested with something.  I used to take fungi home to identify them and a number of times they became a writhing mess of maggots within a very short space of time.  

In order to identify many fungi you need to pick them but someone had walked ahead of me today, picked them and discarded them.  At this stage it really doesn't matter as they will have already dropped their spores but I feel it is such a shame when people damage them before they 'open up'.  Here you can clearly see their gills which give a large surface area for spore production. Not all fungi have gills but it is a strategy favoured by many.

Maybe I am easily pleased but I still marvel at the structure of many things in nature.  It really doesn't matter whether or not you are able to identify a species (unless you are trying to do a survey): just taking the time to look closely at wildlife can be a calming experience.