The River Exe directly below the church at Topsham. When the tide is out, as it was here, a wide stretch of very soft and squelchy looking mud is exposed. A pair of teal, wading through the mud, prospecting for things to eat.
Yellow mushrooms by side of Devon lane
Yellow mushrooms growing by the side of a south Devon lane last month. They were probably yellow fieldcaps (Bolbitius titubans).
Bird in the bush (dunnock)
Confident enough to be singing, this dunnock was near enough I could have stretched out to touch if – if the bush hadn’t been in the way.
Reedmace, River Exe, Exeter
Reedmace, a.k.a. bulrushes, by the River Exe just downstream from Exeter Quays.
Bold black-headed gull
Black-headed gull, already in breeding plumage in mid-February, boldly standing on the quayside by the River Exe at Topsham.
Views of a reed bed
A couple of shots at one of the many reed beds in the Exe estuary area. One stalk was standing taller than its fellows, stark against a threatening sky. Looking just a little lower down, the bed formed one mass.
Shelduck feeding, resting
The RSPB Bowling Green Marsh Reserve again. A shelduck upends to feed on the bottom of one of the shallow pools, while nearby, another duck snoozes.
Fungi with white mould
Fungi, possibly velvet shanks, rotting the tree they are growing on. In their turn being sustenance for the white mould growing on them.
Wigeon afloat and ashore, Bowling Green
Wigeon, constantly whistling to one another, swimming on a stretch of the open water at the RSPB Bolling Green Reserve. Others moving as a group as they fed among the tussocky grass.
Algae, Clyst Footbridge, Lower Rail
The busy Exeter to Exmouth main road crosses the River Clyst by a fairly narrow, historic stone bridge. It’s only a few years since there’s been a wooden bridge for pedestrians and cyclists running beside it, built with the development of the RSPB Goosemoor Nature Reserve.
Already, the footbridge supports a rich array of algae. This is a small sample, mainly of those growing on the rail inches above the floor level.
Great egret, grey heron
The great egret, still standing on the far side of the Bowling Green Marsh Reserve, was now approached by a heron stalking towards it, giving a strong impression of being on a mission to intimidate the incumbent. The heron carried on striding for a few yards beyond where the egret was standing, but then the egret, immobile up to this point, flew off.
Violet (crocuses, Topsham churchyard)
In what I presume was a deliberate decision to aim for a colour match with the violets flowering nearby, the crocuses planted in Topsham churchyard were all of the violet form.