David

This sparrow was dust bathing on the towpath of the Stourbridge canal.

Delph Nine Locks on the Dudley No 1 canal, not far from the Merry Hill shopping centre, has unusual overflow weirs which are impressive after wet weather.

There are in fact only eight locks in the flight. Traces of the uppermost of the original nine can be seen beyond the pool by the lock downhill of Mill Street bridge.

The top and bottom pictures are of fish by the Red House Glass Cone, where several schools were lurking. Probably a good place for them with the chance to get the leavings of bread fed to the ducks there.

These were in the shallow end of the Dock, a side pool by a higher lock in the flight of Stourbridge locks.

The larger bee had been on this flower for some time. It left when the smaller one (on the right) arrived.

This one was facing away from me, so the sunlight was catching the structure of the veins in its wings.

The pollen baskets of these two looked full to capacity already.

The parent goose objected strongly even though I stayed well clear of where the two half-grown goslings were feeding. The other parent was also close by, swimming in the canal.

This tabby jumped first the ditch and then a canal lock so that it could carry on hunting in peace without me disturbing any prey.

Skating on the surface of the larger pool in Buckpool LNR, Wordsley.

There is at least one heron which seems to spend a lot of its nights in West Park.

Recently it has been using this pile of vegetation on the edge of the boating lake as its look-out post.

When I got too close for comfort it fled to the fenced off enclosure for the boats.

One of a pair of ducklings still with its mother in the shadow of Red House Glass Cone, Wordsley.

The beetle came back the next day, and was a bit more cooperative about facing in a direction where its head was visible