Wolves Wild

Swans coming in for landing on the river at Stratford, after circling two or three times. Wings and tails held to act as brakes as they descend, then ghe great oary feet skimming the surface of the water to lose more momnetum.

Dunnock on a tarmac footpath, searching for tiny insects to eat, after checking that I wasn’t going to come close enough to threaten it.

Tufted duck making quite a splash as it took off to fly just a short distance from the busy shore.

Silhouette of the tree line on the far bank of the Avon at Stratford, with its reflection in a full river.

Pied wagtail in Stratford on Avon. A part of the territory where it often searches for insects is the pavement next to the canal basin, a bit close for comfort to the regular streams of tourists walking past.

Butterbur flowering early. In sheltered spots the flowers start to open before the end of December.

Black headed gull with plumage already taking on the black head of the spring breeding plumage when it was pictured on Christmas Eve.

Scarlet elf cups, a fungus with fruiting bodies which appear in late winter, growing on dead wood. Cup-shaped, and normally over a centimeter high and in diameter. These, by the Railway Walk at Newbridge in a spot where they have growin for several years now, were only a couple of millimeters in size. Just visible because of the bright red colour.

Black swan on the Severn at Bridgnorth, preening. is it the same bird which turned up at Shrewsbury earlier in the winter?

Winter aconite flowers just emerging in a sheltered corner of Stratford on Avon churchyard over Christmas. Probably now getting nearer to open fully like they were here a couple of years ago.

Pied wagtail with a territory on both sides of River Avon at Stratford, seen feeding first by the left bank, then the right bank.

Lesser celandines, early flowering in the first week of January. One plant in a sheltered, often sunny spot on the bank leading up to Hawthorn Wood opposite the Wildside Centre. The others in a front garden at Newbridge.