Category: David

The morning these pictures were taken, there were six herons on one of the the islands in West Park. There was the pair which had nested in the park and their young chick. There were the two birds which feature in this series of pictures – a mature heron high in the branches of a conifer, and a juvenile on the ground in the shelter of the tree. There was also a third bird deeper in the cover of the same tree, only visible in brief glimpses.

The mature bird high in the tree was standing with its mouth always open, the tongue clearly visible.

Seeds developing on a pasque flower, previously seen in bloom here.

Moorhen on the edge of the reed patch on the Compton Park pool, contorting itself to preen its feathers.

West Park’s mother heron coming in to land on the overhanging willow tree where the young bird was already standing. As she spreads her wings to keep her balance, she could almost be modelling for modern images of primitive birds and related dinosaurs.

Plantain flower. This species had flowers on a tall stem, standing up over the rest of the plant.

The West Park cygnets are now getting larger and more independant of their parents. Here three of them were on the boating lake, half way between the island and the shore, poking their heads in the water in search of something to eat.