David

A mallard drake heading across the partly frozen Birmingham Canal earlier this week.

First he gingerly stepped across a patch where the ice was (barely) thick enough to support him.

He gradually sank into the water as he continued forward, seeming happier once he was able to swim.

Several of the tiny waxcap mushroom species are bright yellow and do not blacken with age. If anything, these faded instead.

My guess is that these were the commonest such species, butter waxcaps.

Some of these had flattened caps.

One even had a cap with an upturned margin, putting the gills on display.

A magpie as it paused, resting on a bough of one of the West Park trees, watching me suspiciously.

One of the West Park squirrels ran right past me, in the process coming up close without begging for food.

A carrion crow perching on the top twig of a bare tree to keep an eye out for opportunities or dangers.

A hardy daisy still flowering in East Park earlier this week despite the hard frosts.