Category: David

A tiny garden pond, only recently created, has already attracted at least three frogs. Here the frogs are basking, arranged according to size, head to tail, on a plank at the pool.

A flower growing in the grassy area by the kerbside of a quiet residential street. I passed it several times, thought it was a poppy. Perhaps a poppy with a rather vivid red flower, perhaps flowering early, but a poppy nevertheless.

Finally got around to taking a picture and getting a proper ID. Turns out it’s a poppy anemone. Not a poppy at all, but an anemone which has a flower looking very like a poppy.

This year’s family of greylag goose goslings continue to grow. Last week they seem to have gathered even more adults guarding them. Signs of the adult feathers are beginning to show on their wings and tails.

Cow parsley is a common sight both in woodland and along roadside verges, and easy to spot usually growing to knee height or more. This plant was actually growing on the grassed area of the pavement of a quiet residential street.

A poppy with very papery-looking petals which was growing on a pavement last month. Possibly an atlas poppy; definitely a garden escape.

Lots of plants (I seem to notice it more on trees and bushes) have leaves which are a different colour when they first develop. Mostly, they’re reddish. Coloured from growth hormone which is then recycled by the plant leaving the leaves green. Some trees have been bred to keep this colouring: copper beeches among others.

I just noticed that hazel seems to do similar. But instead of various shades of red, the growing leaves have a greyish area. I went back the day after these pictures were taken. All the leaves were green with no trace of the grey.