Wolves Wild

A tiny hoverfly doing its hovering a few inches over the water of a garden pond.

There have been very, very few butterflies about this summer. I’ve not seen any of this species: a meadow brown.

I have seen a handful of cabbage whites, with clear enough views to spot that there have been both large whites and small whites. There have been a couple of blues, too far away for a definite ID, but almost certainly holly blues. All of these in much smaller numbers than usual, and that is it.

ADDITION: I drafted this a week or so ago. Since then it’s actually been hot and dry. I’ve seen a few more butterflies, including fleeting views of one, maybe two, meadow browns.

Views towards Wolverhampton city centre from the Two Greens pub. Seen from high on the Tettenhall ridge, the city looks rather green. A gift from the Victorian city fathers, who had trees planted along many of the roads. The shots directly towards St Peters Church and the Civic Centre have leafy West Park on the low ground below.

Three black headed gulls on a fallen bough by the island in West Park lake, behind them a football which someone kicked too hard.

Although the picture was only taken a few days ago, the gulls still have their breeding season plumage with the dark caps. Bright sunlight shows up these capa as brown, not actually black.

A juvenile squirrel in West Park. It’s easy to tell it’s still young: all the mature ones get fed so many peanuts they are on the large side.

A West Park magpie. Its short tail probably means it’s still a juvenile. Looking rather scruffy with ragged plumage.