Category: David

Young heron, a regular on one of the islands in West Park, standing in a fallen willow which is still growing as it hangs over the water of the lake.

Purple lupin flowering in one of the small but carefully planted front gardens of East Castle Street, Bridgnorth.

May 28th. Still one and the other of the West Park nesting herons spending its time on a convenient perch to guard the nearby nest, occasionally preening. The other bird nearby in a position where the fishing was better. The few minutes I was there neither bird actually returned to the nest.

Nothing actually visible over the rim of the nest, but the adult pair still acting like there was something worth protecting there.

Looking semi-transparent and much less conspicuous than the male of the species, this is a female common blue damselfly, currently at rest on the leaf of one of the bullrushes in Compton Park pool.

A bumper-sized photoset this morining.

May 27, and after about three weeks when the West Park herons’ nest had always been occupied by at least one of the nesting pair, now both could be seen at once. Frequently close to or on the edge of the nest, sometimes a little distance away, fishing.

Not possible to see clearly inside the nest to discover whether there were any hatchlings, but some of the pictures show an indistinct grey mass which could be the back of a young bird.

I didn’t want to hang around too long, and possibly scare the birds. But they way they stuck around the nest gave some hope they had had a breeding success.

Hawthorns – these were in and on the edge of the Barley Field – with a profusion of flowers at the end of May. Perhaps it’s because I’ve not been getting out so much recently, but the hawthorn seemed particularly abundant this year.