When coot chicks first hatch, some of the down on their heads is bright red and spiky. These were very young, and from a nest only a couple of yards from the shore of the West Park lake. So they were swimming very near to the footpath.
A slim and elegant hoverfly taking a moment to rest in the sun. It was possibly a ladder-backed hover fly.
This time, when we spotted the West Park Canada goose goslings they were on the opposite shore of the lake. They were right by the bank, and the lakeside footpath, busy feeding.
We were headed that way. As we got nearer, we started discussing whether we could make a diversion to avoid disturbing them. But then a couple came along the path in the other direction.
The adult birds got the goslings into the water for safety, and led them swimming, still close to the shore, right by us.
As soon as we left the area, they were all back on dry land again, with the goslings back to eating steadily.
Everyday life among the pigeons of West Park, and indeed everywhere pigeons gather together in numbers. A cock pigeon fluffs himself up and coos loudly to call attention to himself as he struts around a female trying hard to avoid him. This time, like many others, his efforts were to no avail.
A tiny garden pond, only recently created, has already attracted at least three frogs. Here the frogs are basking, arranged according to size, head to tail, on a plank at the pool.
A flower growing in the grassy area by the kerbside of a quiet residential street. I passed it several times, thought it was a poppy. Perhaps a poppy with a rather vivid red flower, perhaps flowering early, but a poppy nevertheless.
Finally got around to taking a picture and getting a proper ID. Turns out it’s a poppy anemone. Not a poppy at all, but an anemone which has a flower looking very like a poppy.