Category: David

One group of the snowdrops in the grounds of Bantock Park had ended up in a sheltered spot, half-hidden under the arch of a fallen tree trunk.

Magpie flying off as it fled from me, to the safety of one of the trees in West Park.

Lesser celandines flowering usually marks the arrival of spring weather. These first few lone pioneers earlier this month were in or on the edge of Old Nursery Wood.

Look carefully wherever large numbers of mallards gather, like the lake at West Park. In among them, there’s quite likely to be one or two birds which are the result of an encounter between a mallard and some other species of duck.

On my most recent visit to Old Nursery Wood, there seemed to be patches of glistening inkcap mushrooms, recently sprung up in various spots.

There’s five or six pairs of swans on the lake at West Park which have been performing the courtship ritual with each other: some started before the new year. But, with geese and ducks also in contention, there just aren’t that many good nesting sites. In good years, two pairs of swans will manage to raise cygnets; in others, just one.

So good nest sites are at a premium. Of the sites visible from the footpaths, the one which seems to be chosen first is a beach on boating lake island, a sheltered patch of bare soil which is in sun for much of the day. This swan pair had begun to occupy that space, and were busy plucking some of the feathers from their chests, a contribution to the nesting material.