Category: David

Mallard cross drake with feathers showing delicate green and blue iridescence.

Blue irises in flower, visible only through other vegetation at the far side of the small pond in Bantock Park.

Another big set of pictures of the nesting pair of herons and their growing chick, all standing on their favourite willow tree.

The bird with head feathers like a punk mohican haircut is the fast-growing youngster, and the one with the neck extended and elongated is the adult female.

The young bird was preening – in some of the pictures traces of the down it was removing can be seen on its beak.

Common vetch with its purple flowers coming out – this example is one of the meadow flowers in the Barley Field.

The morning these pictures were taken, there were six herons on one of the the islands in West Park. There was the pair which had nested in the park and their young chick. There were the two birds which feature in this series of pictures – a mature heron high in the branches of a conifer, and a juvenile on the ground in the shelter of the tree. There was also a third bird deeper in the cover of the same tree, only visible in brief glimpses.

The mature bird high in the tree was standing with its mouth always open, the tongue clearly visible.

Seeds developing on a pasque flower, previously seen in bloom here.