David

Kestrel over the Malvern Hills, hovering over Worcestershire Beacon. Every minute or so it would swoop, probably after one of the many meadow pipits which were around. Whatever its intended prey, it never seemed to be catching anything.

Hiding in the short grass at the head of Green Valley, a small heath butterfly waiting for the morning to warm up a little more.

Yellow wagtail moving along th brickwork of a drain, a minor inlet to the canal at Newbridge, looking for insects.

It looked quite small, but perhaps not quite so small as the usual greenfly or blackfly. It’s some type of giant aphid, resting on a hazel leaf.

A hot, hot day at the start of this month. Two broods of ducklings which had been about the ifrst to hatch this year along the canal, now getting their adult feathers. The two groups were together – and all alive. To keep cool, they were playing. Doing all the thinks kids aren’t supposed to do at the swimming baths. Charging at each other. Power-diving, submerging only for a second. Shaking like a wet dog to dry off.

Flag irises, growing at the edge of the small amount remaining of open water in the pond at Compton Park. Pictured earlier this month as the flowers were just about to open.