The first of this year’s waterfowl hatchlings on the West Park lake, by a short head, are these four greylag goslings, here feeding near the Conservatory.
They are being watched, very carefully, by three adults: two females and a male. The second female will be a close relative. Perhaps one of last year’s goslings, perhaps a sister of the mother.
Two humbug snails touching as they rested on a garden wall. No sign of movement, but I thought the feet were sticking out more than usual for when they were still, so that’s what I zoomed in on.
looking directly down on a sow thistle, the buds of the flowers at the top of the plant still tightly closed.
A few more shots of the wisteria flowers on the front of the Mermaid Inn at Wightwick. For most of these shots, I put my lens on its highest telephoto setting, to focus on the flowers themselves.
Tufted ducks (tufties more familiarly) on the lake at West Park. Most of the winter residents have now headed off elsewhere for the breeding season. The ten or a dozen which remain are almost all male.
This year’s blossom on the wisteria climbing over the front of the Mermaid Inn at Wightwick, seen at the very start of the month. Probably the majority of the flowers had opened, but quite a lot were still just budding.
It’s the time of year for nesting again. One the West Park lake, and doubtless elsewhere, the same coot nest sites are regularly re-used from year to year. So one of the first jobs needed is to maintain and repair any damage from the past twelve months.
Coltsfoots in a front garden, their flowering season over and the seeds getting ready for dispersal.
Japanese acers exhibit an amazing range of leaf colours. That’s most marked in autumn, as the leaves change colour in preparation for falling. But the trees also have many variations in the newly-emerging foliage of spring. While many have leaves in different shades of green, this one, growing in a front garden, has leaves which from the off are a rich red.
Two rats near the bridge at West Park. I wasn’t sure whether their interaction was amorous or aggressive. Either way, it meant they were well away from cover for some time.
May is one of the other names for hawthorns. These flowers were actually beginning to open quite early in April. One of the flowers was being investigated by a small insect, probably a fly of some kind.
A forget-me-not plant growing, and flowering, at the meeting point of a pavement and a garden wall. Perhaps an escapee from one of the nearby gardens.