Author: David

A mass of cones at the top of a tall spruce: probably a Norway spruce.

West Park lake gets occasional visits from cormorants. It’s probably a good thing that they don’t take up permanent residence: they’re big birds with healthy appetites, and could possibly make a dent in the size of the fish population.

This bird, perhaps a young one, stayed for a few days during a cold snap two years ago. These pictures were taken as it paused from catching fish.  It spread and shook its wings to dry them in the sun, then started to look around for a potential further snack.

These ivy leaves covering a small patch of ground were in deep shadow, so they held on to their coating of frost for longer than the other nearby vegetation.

Northycote Farm, back in February 2020. A set of well stocked bird feeders attracted a lot of attention from a range of species. Among them, this great spotted woodpecker.

Another in a series of pictures of frost on winter vegetation. The nettle leaves, and the grass they are growing among, were close to the ground and had an almost complete covering of the frost.

A mixed flock of titmice were hunting for insects on the bare branches of bushes between Holy Trinity churchyard and the river at Stratford on Avon. They were flitting rapidly and seemingly randomly from twig to twig, far too fast to get a bead on them using manual focus. The tangle of branches confuses the autofocus, which is why some of the birds came out as indistinct blurs.