Wolves Wild

The most popular riverside walk in Stratford on Avon heads upstream from the Tramway Bridge to cross the river on another footbridge next to the town’s ring road. Apart from a short stretch along a quiet land and a churchyard, the walk is through a landscape of urban parks, called gardens on the right bank.

Footpaths continue upstream on both sides of the river. The few people who venture this way step, within a few yards, into what ranks as countryside in the English midlands. The river banks are a mass of vegetation, proving in turn a home for wildlife.

At this time of year, what is most noticeable is the insects. Damselflies and dragonflies rest on the riverside plants, or ceaselessly patrol a territory over the edge of the water.

Banded demoiselles are one of the most striking of damselfly species, The males have vivid electric blue bodies, sometimes with areas of bronze. They spend a lot of time lying in the sun, hoping to attract the attention of females.

All Saints Church, Stratford on Avon, promoted for tourism as “Shakespeare’s church” (he was both christened and buried here) has a churchyard with a frontage on the river bank and lots of mature trees. This hollyhock had flowers which harmonised with the colours of the stone in the church itself.

Right by canal lock lower gates often seems to be a good spot for plants to take root. Here, the bottom gate of the Stratford Canal leads from the canal basin to the Avon, with Mexican fleabane spreading down the wall nearby

Thirty or so adult swans crowd together on the Avon at Stratford, being fed by children above. On the edge of the crowd or nearby are a few Canada geese and mallards, and the group of cygnets in the previous post.

Pretty much all day, every day in Stratford on Avon, there’s a mob of birds on the river directly below Bancroft Gardens, fighting to get the bread or more healthy food thrown by visitors.

Most of the mob are adult swans, though a few of the geese and the mallards manage to squeeze into gaps.

Here, a group of juvenile swans were on the edge of the crowd. Their feathers show them as this year’s hatchlings, but now grown to more or less full size. They kept together, so are likely siblings.

Swan parents usually keep a close eye on their offspring until they are themselves grown up and ready to be shooed off to make a life of their own. Perhaps the adults were somewhere in the main crowd.

Mulberries ripening on a mature tree in the front yard of the Dirty Duck / Black Swan inn by the river in Stratford on Avon.

Anyone who fancies a drink while gazing at the river and the passing tourists needs to take care. The tree’s contorted trunk makes a low arch over the way to some of the tables.

Even more hazardous: the fruit ripening season is a long one, all through the warmer summer months. Once ripe, the squishy fruit drop without warning, leaving deep, dark stains which might just be removable if they are treated at once.