David

Catkins at the end of a twig on a silver birch.

Male and female catkins grow on different trees. The male ones start off looking furry, and give the species its name, before producing the pollen and turning as in the upper picture.

The catkins on the female trees will eventually become the seeds.

Not local, but on the river Avon at Stratford.

From a distance it looked like a couple of miniature boulders; closer, the fungus seemed rather dried up as it grew on the cut surface of the stump of a large tree by one of the footpaths on the Perton estate.

A lot of butterflies were around during the warm spell at the end of March. This comma spent some time warming itself resting in the middle of a small bed of nettles.

It’s just about visible in the centre of the picture!