Category: David

Patch of lesser celandines growing by the canal towpath not far from the Tunstall Water Bridge, seen here around the middle of March.

Dunnock, singing continually while perched on twig in a hawthorn bush. A week or so back, the leaves of the hawthorn weere just beginning to open.

Patch of greater celandine leaves in the middle of last month: these were growing by the towpath not far from Aldersley Junction.

Greater celandines (poppy family) flower later in the spring than lesser celandines (buttercup family).

Some type of inkcap fungus growing on a pile of wood chippings by the towpath at Newbridge.

Sometimes, chippings are brought in from elsewhere, already carrying fungal spores. But the ones by canals are generated in situ from trees and bushes pruned or felled in the maintainance work of the Canals and Rivers Trust. So this inkcap must already have been established somewhere not to far away.

Catkins on a willow a couple of weeks ago. These were on a tree growing by the canal towpath on the edge of Fowler’s Park.

Garlic by the canal towpath, a short distance from Aldersley Junction. Garlic grows in patches in damp, shady places, and flourishes before the leaves grow on the trees overhead.

When these pictures were taken, the first flower buds were beginning to appear on the garlic. Once the flowers open, wild garlic patches make themselves known by a scent of garlic, which can be overpowering on a warm spring day.