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Mallard drake

Mallard drake

This male bird coping with the ice on the West Park pool at the weekend, showing the rich colours of his plumange.

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Alder fruit and catkins

Alder fruit and catkins

Last year’s fruit and this year’s catkins hanging from the same branches back on New Year’s Day.

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David

Dabchick preening

Dabchick preening

This little grebe paused to give its feathers a good cleaning after swimming in convoy with a couple of mallards (below).

Little grebe and mallards

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Magpie in the snow

Magpie in the snow

This magpie’s haughty retreat gives a view of the rich iridescence of feathers which normally appear black.

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Robin

Robin

A robin uses one bird feeder as a perch for its approach to the other feeder.

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Blackbird

Blackbird

Thanks to reliable bird feeders, this male blackbird has kept well fed through the recent hard spell.

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Fieldfare

Fieldfare

A member of the thrush family which flies south to Britain for the easier living in the winter.

Fieldfares normally come into urban areas only when conditions get harsh – here to feast on a rotting apple left out for birds. Understandably, the bird was more concerned with eating than with showing itself off at a good angle.

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Unidentified bracket

Unidentified bracket

This bracket was growing on a fallen tree trunk, at an angle which showed that the fruiting bodies grew only after the tree had fallen.

Unidentified bracket

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Swan

Swan

The long neck is capable of the most complex contortions.

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Shrivelled rosehip

Shrivelled rosehip

Even before the present big freeze, most of the berries left were as inedible as this rosehip.

Urban birds are going to be even more dependent than ever on food put out in feeders and on bird tables.