David

One of a pair of ducklings still with its mother in the shadow of Red House Glass Cone, Wordsley.

The beetle came back the next day, and was a bit more cooperative about facing in a direction where its head was visible

Delicate blue flowers, while the stems, leaves and buds are all hairy.

The beetle is possibly Chysolita polita, It now looks more likely that it is Agonum sexpunctatum. It is resting on a nettle leaf.

The stickweed flowers were so small they were easy to overlook, and best seen with a magnifying glass. The hooked spines on the leaves and stems can also be made out in this picture.

The two fields separating Himley from Wall Heath as seen from the A449 earlier this month. It really looked like poppies were the main crop.

The conifers in the background of the first three pictures are lining the sides of the South Staffordshire Railway Walk.

The field nearer Wall Heath looked really spectacular from the top deck of bus 256. There wasn’t a line of sight on the ground to duplicate the view.