Shelf fungus have this amazing quality, when they are new and sunlit, of looking so damned rich. The gold isn’t metallic at all, and yet it glimmers like riches, and the mossy stripes add that impression of royal plushness. This doesn’t do it justice, but maybe if you’ve seen it in person, it will queue up the memory.
This particular tree trunk is on my regular migratory route to the cafe, tucked in against a fence and not particularly impressive, especially since it’s near an archway that, come spring, will be covered in spectacular wisteria flowers. In the meantime that corner is sodden but still bravely churning out natural beauty: these golden curls of fungus and, beneath the tree, one singularly unphotogenic crocus bloom.
. Slow-motion footage of eagles picking salmon out of the water, making it look easy, is just a tiny morsel of the stunning cinematography in this program. (Which is, like so many of the nature TV shows I love, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.)