Mass of lesser celandines, Deansgate

Mass of lesser celandines, Deansgate

Deansgate on Tettenhall Road, previously the local base of Customs and Excise, nowadays “serviced luxury offices”. In front of the building, what I suppose is meant to be a garden, including a large patch of lesser celandines, seen here through the fence separating the property from the pavement.

Grey wagtail, Prefab Weir

Grey wagtail, Prefab Weir

A grey wagtail walking along the wall of prefab weir on the canal at Compton, pausing to pick up insects along the way. It was a male. The female briefly also flew in (last picture in the set) before heading off to the opposite bank. A little while later, he also went there.

Larch flowers, Bantock Park

Larch flowers, Bantock Park

Looking like decoratively painted geometrical sculptures, flowers on one of the larch trees. I think the pink and yellow flowers are the female ones, already pre-figuring the shape of the cones they will eventually form. The rather insignificant-looking yellow-brown tufts may be the male flowers.

Larch flowers, Bantock Park

White violets, Bridgnorth

White violets, Bridgnorth

A small patch of white violets in a quiet corner of the Castle Ground Park, Bridgnorth. I didn’t get close enough to smell them.

Tawny mining bee resting on a leaf

Tawny mining bee resting on a leaf

Tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva), quite common during the flowering season for fruit trees such as apple, pear, plum and cherry. They are solitary, and “mine” in the sense that they dig holes for their homes. Can sometimes be spotted emerging from lawns, playing fields, grassy banks and the like.