WE have had a long, mild and damp autumn to date with very little, if any frost - once again quite unusual climatic conditions. This has resulted in a colourful autumn, but not exactly in the way we have come to expect.

In previous years I have often written about the wonderful autumn colours but so far this year we have not had a spectacular and abrupt display.

The trees are preparing for autumn, but are doing it far more gradually. There's still lots of autumn colour to be seen though from the fungal kingdom. The weather conditions for fungi have been almost ideal and the fungi throughout the district have enjoyed a long fruiting period.

In the last few weeks, I have been spending a fair bit of time out on the heathland nature reserve of the Devil's Spittleful and Rifle Range and have been astounded by my fungal encounters. The most obvious fungi has to be everybody's most typical image of a fairytale toadstool, the Fly Agaric.

These large red and white spotted fungi have an association with birch trees and can be found growing in clumps around their bases, like miniature fairytale villages.

Out on the acid grassland, among the tussocks of the wavy hair grass, another shocking red fungi can be found. This is known as the scarlet hood and is a member of the wax cap family. If you touch this fungus it has, like its name suggests, a lovely waxy texture.

There is another species of colourful wax cap you can find on this reserve, too. It is the parrot wax cap, which is a delightful lilac colour and can be found sprouting in the more wooded areas. The woods are also filled with several species of the Russula family.

These fungi have brilliant white stems that show up almost magically if you walk through the wood at night with the aid of a bright torch. During the day they are initially a little hard to see amongst the fallen birch leaves. Once you spot a couple of them though you can't believe you had missed them as the various species come in shocking red, sunshine yellow and deep purple.

Many people like to consider fungi as wild mushrooms and whilst many fungi out on the nature reserve can be and are considered to be good eating, the sandy soils of the heath are also home to some of the most poisonous fungi on earth. So if you're not completely positive as to what you've found it is much safer to leave well alone.