David

Rind of a cheese which had been left in the fridge for far too long, and had developed a growing colony of penicillin mould.

West Park has been having more visits than usual from ducks with mixed ancestry, mallard plus some other species.

First there was this female, seen one day but not the next or ever since. Now here is a drake, which again just put in a one-time appearance. A couple of days after he’d been and gone, yet another duck put in its brief appearance, too far away to be worth a shot with the camera I had that day.

Every year there’s snowdrops under the trees nearest the house in Bantock Park. Things might be getting a little warmer soon!

Eight or nine goosanders on the upper pool at Perton; sometimes swimming as one group, sometimes separating into smaller parties. Always at the far side of the water from me, fishing very actively, but possibly pausing briefly to display to another member of the gang.

Yuccas seem to be mistiming their seasonal activity in a big way. Outdoor plants in parks and gardens flowering or preparing to flower in the depths of winter. These budding flowers were on yuccas in West Park late in January.

The remnants of a collared earthstar, seen here some ten weeks after I had first noticed and pictured it. The fungus had looked like it had been around for a little time even on that earlier occasion.