Autumn is here?

With the start of September, Autumn is officially here. If anything I feel it has been autumnal for the last three weeks.

Even the Earth Star fungi is earlier this year, the chilled damp of August now running into this month.

We appear to have two types of earthstar, Striate, which are rarish, all earthstars are uncommon,

.....and the Beaked Earthstar below, we are waiting for microscopic confirmation of the spores of this often overlooked fungi of the puffball family.

The obvious 'beak' and collarless stem differentiate it from the first species. We only have one location for this beaked version, and hope the rabbits, squirrels and passing badgers will leave the area unspoilt like they have in the past.