Category: David

Confident enough to be singing, this dunnock was near enough I could have stretched out to touch if – if the bush hadn’t been in the way.

Reedmace, a.k.a. bulrushes, by the River Exe just downstream from Exeter Quays.

Black-headed gull, already in breeding plumage in mid-February, boldly standing on the quayside by the River Exe at Topsham.

A couple of shots at one of the many reed beds in the Exe estuary area. One stalk was standing taller than its fellows, stark against a threatening sky. Looking just a little lower down, the bed formed one mass.

The RSPB Bowling Green Marsh Reserve again. A shelduck upends to feed on the bottom of one of the shallow pools, while nearby, another duck snoozes.

Fungi, possibly velvet shanks, rotting the tree they are growing on. In their turn being sustenance for the white mould growing on them.

Wigeon, constantly whistling to one another, swimming on a stretch of the open water at the RSPB Bolling Green Reserve. Others moving as a group as they fed among the tussocky grass.

The busy Exeter to Exmouth main road crosses the River Clyst by a fairly narrow, historic stone bridge. It’s only a few years since there’s been a wooden bridge for pedestrians and cyclists running beside it, built with the development of the RSPB Goosemoor Nature Reserve.

Already, the footbridge supports a rich array of algae. This is a small sample, mainly of those growing on the rail inches above the floor level.

The great egret, still standing on the far side of the Bowling Green Marsh Reserve, was now approached by a heron stalking towards it, giving a strong impression of being on a mission to intimidate the incumbent. The heron carried on striding for a few yards beyond where the egret was standing, but then the egret, immobile up to this point, flew off.

In what I presume was a deliberate decision to aim for a colour match with the violets flowering nearby, the crocuses planted in Topsham churchyard were all of the violet form.

Lurking at the very back of the RSPB Bowling Green Reserve, right by the railway line, was a lone great egret. It’s just about visible in these pictures.

Yet more early flowering Devon violets. These were growing on the grassy roadside bank further along the same lane as the white violets which featured in a post earlier this week.