Author: David

A banded demoiselle damselfly, a male, flying just above the surface of the water of the River Avon on the outskirts of Stratford.

On the top floor of the RSC theatre in Stratford, the restaurant has an outside balcony, pleasant in fine weather, and with good views. In one direction, two bridges cross the river. Clopton Bridge, the historic start of the London road, seems to get ever busier with constant streams of traffic by day. Tramway Bridge can also get crowded with pedestrian traffic. At such times, cyclists can be a hazard, now joined by speeding electric scooters.

Further round, Bancroft Gardens, an expanse of grassy lawns which can get quite crowded with picknickers as times. Beyond the bottom basin of the Stratford Canal, the main shopping streets of the town are to the left. In the distance, the Welcombe Hills rise.

A female mallard with her very young ducklings on the Avon by the Stratford Rowing Club landing stage at the start of this month. The ducklings may even have hatched that same morning, or perhaps on the previous day. This is very late in the year. The ducklings will have to grow up fast if they are to survive the winter.

The wings of these maple seeds beginning to brown as the seeds at their base are ripening. The tree was growing close to Lucy’s Mill footbridge over the Avon at Stratford. So I could stand on the steps to get this close-up with the subject at eye level.

A heron at the foot of one of the weirs on the Avon at Stratford, looking out for fish being swept down by the water. It constantly seemed on the verge of swooping, but never actually did so while we were watching.

I’m not sure what happened to these cardoons, or rather to the remains of cardoons, to give them such a bleached-out appearance. They were among the plants growing wild on the site of a former helipad in Stratford on Avon.