Category: David

Clumps of bracket fungi growing on the trunks of deciduous trees, often at around chest or shoulder height, chicken of the woods can sometimes be found on roadside trees. This was in a front garden by the Tettenhall Road.

The plants tend to be taller than the more common rosebay willowherb, and more likely to be found specifically in damp spaces. This one one one of the plants in the wildflower area surrounding the Compton Park pool.

Another summer generation butterfly, this one a red admiral attracted to the flowers of a buddleia.

Hogweeds this year seem to be growing very tall. Here flowers seen from below.

Another glimpse of the July-hatched mallard ducklings on the canals hard by Aldersley Junction. This time they all (young and mother) were swimming right by the bank of the canal, just occasionally visible through gaps in the overhanging vegetation. As far as could be seen, all was well with them. The pictures are all of one duckling which was swimming a little further from the shore than its siblings.

Skipper butterfly resting on the leaf of a bulrush in the pool at Compton Park. It was too far away to identify which species of skipper – to do that, it’s necessary to get a view of details like the underside of the antennae.