Wolves Wild

Tufted ducks (tufties more familiarly) on the lake at West Park. Most of the winter residents have now headed off elsewhere for the breeding season. The ten or a dozen which remain are almost all male.

This year’s blossom on the wisteria climbing over the front of the Mermaid Inn at Wightwick, seen at the very start of the month. Probably the majority of the flowers had opened, but quite a lot were still just budding.

It’s the time of year for nesting again. One the West Park lake, and doubtless elsewhere, the same coot nest sites are regularly re-used from year to year. So one of the first jobs needed is to maintain and repair any damage from the past twelve months.

Coltsfoots in a front garden, their flowering season over and the seeds getting ready for dispersal.

Japanese acers exhibit an amazing range of leaf colours. That’s most marked in autumn, as the leaves change colour in preparation for falling. But the trees also have many variations in the newly-emerging foliage of spring. While many have leaves in different shades of green, this one, growing in a front garden, has leaves which from the off are a rich red.

Two rats near the bridge at West Park. I wasn’t sure whether their interaction was amorous or aggressive. Either way, it meant they were well away from cover for some time.