Wolves Wild

A cloudless morning earlier this month, a damson tree with some flowers still in bud, and others fully open, seen white against the blue of the sky.

A tawny mining bee had got trapped on the wrong side of a window. After making several attempts to take what it thought was the direct route to where it wanted to go – through the glass – it was taking a rest. After a few seconds to take these shots, I helped it find what was actually the escape route it wanted.

More from the late-March burst of weeds a few inches high with tiny white flowers. Growing by the canal footpath was this bittercress species, possibly hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta).

Two coots on their nests on West Park lake at the start of the month. One looked like it might already have been brooding. The other was standing on a nest which seemed to have been only half-built. It was looking around nervously at swans which were surrounding the nest, dipping their heads in the water to feed from the bottom.

Ground ivy isn’t actually a type of ivy: it’s related to the dead nettles. Dead nettles aren’t nettles, either.

Be that as it may, ground ivy is still worth looking out for. It’s inconspicuous because it clings to the ground. The flowers might, at first glance, be mistaken for violets, which tend to flower at a similar time of year. They are described as having a strong smell of blackcurrant or of tom-cats(!). I’ve never bent down far enough to test whether that’s true.

Shovellers seem to spend almost all their time in the water. Usually they are swimming round in tight circles, filtering the water just below the surface for food. When they take a break, it’s by relaxing and floating where they are.

For once, this pair of shovellers had climbed onto a fallen bough. They were standing one-legged; their necks turned so their heads were resting on their backs. Their eyes were open, or at least the eyes visible from the shore were. But they may still have been asleep: a neat duck trick.