Category: David

The glistening effect on these honeysuckle berries and leaves may have been even more pronounced if I hadn’t taken the picture in an interval between two very heavy showers.

Enthusiasts for DIY sloe gin are in for a disappointment this year. The weather earlier this year meant that very few blackthorn flowers set fruit.

Today’s pictures are two views of the same sloe. They were taken at the same time as the one featured the day before yesterday. That sloe was on the next bush. They were the only two berries I noticed in a quick look around a patch of bushes which are normally covered in sloes at this time of year.

These tiny mushrooms were growing at the base of a tree trunk.

Bryony berries beginning to ripen (above) and an image in shades of green (below).

These thistle seeds hadn’t quite succeeded in getting away from their parent plant.

Moorhens are normally the most timid of the local waterbirds. Those living on our canals prefer to keep the width of the water between themselves and walkers.

The adult bird here was the first I ever remember swimming towards me as I came down the tow path.

It became clear that the bird was still feeding four well-grown chicks. This task is normally shared by the adult pair, but there was no sign of a second adult here.

The birds were right by Newbridge, and were probably used to getting a share of the bread brought for the resident ducks.

A group of half a dozen ducks were indeed lurking nearby, though they seemed to have a better sense that I wasn’t going to feed them.