A cold morning, starting to rain. A coot on the nest, brooding, unable to move to shelter without letting the eggs cool. Towards the edge of the nest, a large piece of paper, one side formed from what looked like foil.
It took a lot of manoeuvring, using the beak as its grip, and fighting against a breeze which was trying to snatch away the paper. But eventually the job was done. The bird could now snuggle down under its makeshift cover.
The front gardens of East Castle Street in Bridgnorth are worth watching at any time of year. This is a summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum). It’s yet another introduced plant, but with an original range covering much of Eurasia it thrives in some parts of the country as a wildflower. Hence another of its names, the Loddon lily, from a tributary of the Thames.
Tapered drone flies ((Eristalis pertinax/em>), a common hoverfly species. Also one or the species that’s easier to photograph, when they spend time sunbathing, resting on leaves.
Part of the blackthorn hedge around the Barely Field, most of the flowers out. Blackthorn flowers open before the leaves, which adds to their effect when seen from a distance. It looks like their might be a good crop of sloes this year.
Yes, robins’ traditional association is with Christmas, not with springtime. But this one was singing recently in one of the bushes in the hedge around the Barley Field. And the bush, with leaves which were then just opening, was a may (more commonly called hawthorn.
Deansgate on Tettenhall Road, previously the local base of Customs and Excise, nowadays “serviced luxury offices”. In front of the building, what I suppose is meant to be a garden, including a large patch of lesser celandines, seen here through the fence separating the property from the pavement.