I TOOK another look around the waste ground on the eastern edge of Liskeard where the road joins the by–pass and the first thing I found were some velvet shank mushrooms. These grow on decaying trees but the ones I spotted were on dead tree roots among brambles right beside the pavement.

Usually this slimy, yellow fungus comes towards the end of autumn and stays until spring, in fact they can survive being frozen solid and then go on producing spore after they thaw out. There was a group of common knapweed blooms out by the roundabout. Sometimes named black hardheads with their black knob–like flower heads with reddish purple florets.

There is a greater knapweed plant with flower heads up to 10cm (four inches) wide, but the only place I have ever seen this one is up at Penlee Battery near Rame Head.

One thing that amazed me about the walk out to that roundabout was the roadside pavement that is a good two metres wide, but two thirds of that width is blocked by overhanging trees and vegetation. I don’t know if any members of Liskeard Town Council ever go out that road to drive on the carriageway or even to go to the inn but it is very noticable?

I went down the path behind the bus shelter beside Morrisons’ roundabout and was rewarded with the sight of a robin’s pincushion growing on a wild rose runner. This prickly growth is caused by the gall wasp Diplolepis rosae that lays eggs in the unopened leaf buds of the rose bush. The presence of the larvae causes the leaf bud to develop into a moss–like structure where the larvae remain until next spring, when they hatch out.

However, the gall wasp larvae may be visited and attacked by another parasite wasp, but will not have things entirely its own way as it too might receive a visitor in the shape of an even smaller parasite. Life among these parasites is not always as plain sailing as it might seem.

Back in Quethiock parish I took a walk through Darky Lane and found my way was blocked by a fallen ash tree. Growing on this tree trunk were a group of black King Alfred’s cakes fungus that was obviously baked too hard to eat. This fungus was named after the legend that King Alfred took shelter in a peasant woman’s home whilst on the run from the Vikings. This lady asked the king to watch her cakes that she was baking whilst she did other things.

Alfred agreed to keep his eye on the cakes but he was so engrossed with planning how he could arrange his army to take power again, he forgot he was in charge of the baking and let them burn. The fungus looks exactly like burnt cakes, albeit with a touch of green moss on them.

Contrary to the views of a letter writer in the Cornish Times about grey squirrels, we love to see them in our garden attempting to get to the bird feeding stations by skilfully crawling along a supporting wire. We have a couple of greys that visit nearly every day and we enjoy watching their acrobatics and determination. We throw hazel nuts and walnuts on the lawn which they quickly pick up and bury for their winter store. It is not unusual to find a nut tree growing among vegetables in the garden where the hidden nuts have been forgotten and taken root.

I noticed a large wasp on the house wall and as I watched it crawling I could see by its facial markings, a triangle of three dots, that it was what’s known as a German wasp. Our common wasp has a marking that looks a bit like a ships anchor. I can only think that this yellow and black patterned insect was taking a rest from flying.

We were watching the lunchtime news on the television when we noticed a large fly that had flown in the open window and had settled on the glass. I think it was an ichneumon fly, although they belong to a large group of parasites and are usually hard to identify correctly.

This was the first time I had seen one indoors and I captured it in a drinking glass and took it out to the patio where I photographed it. Oddly, it was back again the next day but failed to gain entry into the house.