Category: David

The (roundish) fruit and (long, thin) catkins of an alder tree.

This lichen was growing on the gnarled trunk of an old hawthorn.

The large and sticky buds of the horse chestnut are unmistakable.

Not really wild, but these crocuses growing on a verge are a beautiful sign that better weather should soon be with us.

Leaves edged with what will hopefully be one of the last frosts of the season.

Ivy fruit looking purple in bright, early spring sunshine. More often the fruit look black.

An old, dead oak stands stark even when compared to the denuded but living trees behind it.

A patch of snowdrops growing by one of the canals. Below is a closer view of another clump which was growing by the towpath.

Mosses and lichens growing on the trunk of a tree in Valley Park.

Like a squirrel’s dray, this looks like an untidy pile of twigs high in the branches. It appears to be about the same size as well, but can be distinguished by being roughly spherical.

Another sign of the approaching spring: robins are increasingly visible singing from prominent lookouts, and so determined that they stay in place unless approached very closely.

Just for a change, something from last summer. A swarm of bees rest on a stone wall.