Category: David

Shield bugs, probably green shield bugs, gathering crowded together in some numbers on the leaves of an alder. Are the speckles on the leaves their eggs, or their faeces?

Carrion crow on a willow branch directly overlooking Compton Lock, taking care of its feathers and ignoring the human activity on the towpath down below.

Nettle leaves, still green and fresh-looking in September, making a pattern of shades of green. Bright where they are backlit by the morning sun; almost black where they are in the shadow cast by another leaf.

Some of the cormorants on Forge Mill Pool at the Sandwell Valley LNR twisting their flexible necks into contorted shapes as they preen their feathers.

Another one for the West Park species list yesterday. Three cormorants high on the bare branches of one of the trees on boating lake island. The wide-angled shot shows that one of the resident herons was standing on the railing directly below the cormorants.

Possibly young birds dispersing from the parental territory. If the branches directly below where they are perched are marked by their toilet habits, they may already have been here for some days.

Berries on a St John’s wort bush, these turning from red to black as they ripen.