Category: David

Chocolate mining bees (Andrena scotica) are one of the earlier bees to appear in spring. Since the weather began to be warmer, there seem (finally!) to have been quite a few around.

One, two and now three different sets of the West Park greylag geese have now hatched goslings. The first to emerge, six, seem to get bigger every day. The next trio are following in their footsteps. The third set, of four, were possibly just one day old when these pictures were taken.

When I first arrived, all three families were in the same general area, on the lake shore near the bandstand. But someone got a bit too close. The adult birds led the goslings on to the water, to move to a quieter spot. Two of the families got out opposite the Conservatory and on to the nearest patch of grass. The other one sailed under the bridge to a more distant spot.

The black and yellow markings are warning to any potential predator that this tiger moth caterpillar is poisonous. The spiky hairs all along the body are a further deterrent, as are the glassy spikes on the leaf. The caterpillar is actually resting on one of the discarded catkins from a birch tree. I had to look twice to chech that was vegetable rather than some other species of caterpillar.

The West Park turtle climbing out of the lake and on to its favourite sunbathing spot. Once it gets itself settled firmly, it turns to face the right direction for keeping an eye on the nest of the coots which have a couple of young chicks

Flowers and newly-opened leaves on some of the beech trees in West Park. Come the autumn, these will have become beech mast.

Once again the two West Park greylag families were out on the shore, not far from one another. Both sets of goslings were grazing on the same patch of short grass. Both sets of adults were on the footpath, standing on sentry duty.