What is this strange exotic mix of natural textures flowing past the domed obstruction?
And the answer is…. chicken wire!
At least, it’s a fence post to which chicken wire is attached. I photographed it twice using a macro extension tube in the low winter morning light, then stitched the two halves together before doing a reasonably high-contrast conversion to black and white.
Here’s a more conventional view taken a bit later from further away – using the same lens, as it happens, but without the macro tube.