A female mallard leads her flock of five well-grown ducklings on to the bank of the Severn at Bewdley. Once ashore, the young birds started preening vigorously.
House martin nests, Bewdley
High on one of the houses facing directly towards the Severn, some house martin nests. Over the water, all day long, house martins and sand martins kept swooping after insects. They were moving far too fast and too unpredictably for me to have any chance of picturing them.
Riverside tansy, Bewdley
Tansy, in flower, growing from the river wall at Bewdley, with shallow water in the Severn in the background.
Small white on variegated ivy, Bantock
A small white butterfly resting on the variegated leaves of an ivy in Bantock Park.
Skulking rat, Bantock
A rat, which emerged from the undergrowth around Bantock Park’s small pond. It scurried across the footpath, and came to a stop by the roots of a tree opposite.
It clearly saw we were there, but it didn’t seem too worried, turning its back part of the time. It skulked by the tree for a little time, without seeming to do anything in particular. Then is dashed back across the path, bobbed under the fence around the pond. Finally, it disappeared under a St John’s wort bush, perhaps into its burrow.
Loosestrife, Bantock Park
Purple loosestrife rising tall around the small pond in Bantock Park
