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David

Wall of aubretia, Castle Walk, Bridgnorth

Wall of Aubretia, Castle Walk, Bridgnorth

Castle Terrace, Bridgnorth: one section of the high wall separating the walk from High Town is covered by large clumps of aubretia from one of the houses behind the Thomas Telford church.

The direction faced by the wall means it gets direct sunlight every morning, showing off the aubretia flowers to best advantage when they come out every spring.

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David

Lone cross goose on the river, Bridgnorth

Lone cross goose on the river, Bridgnorth

There’s crowds of geese on the Severn at Bridgnorth, mostly hanging round near the old bridge waiting for the next people who will come along to feed them. The majority have all-white feathers: feral farmyard birds. Some are greylags, with grey, brown, cream and white. Some are of mixed parentage, with patches of feathers corresponding to both.

Lone cross goose on the river, Bridgnorth

This was one such, on its tod, swimming against the current to keep a fixed position just off the tip of the Bylet.

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David

Castle-wall-flowers

Castle-wall-flowers

Bridgnorth Castle, one of the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit (probably not the man himself, but the Parliamentary Army after the Civil War siege of the town). The remaining walls lean further than the bell-tower at Pisa. There’s lots of wall-flowers growing in gaps between the stones and in huge cracks running up the walls.

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David

Coots changing places , West Park

Coots changing places , West Park

Some bird species share parental responsibilities. Coots are one.

This was the next nest along from the one featured yesterday, only a couple of yards distant. As I watched, the brooding parent stood up and got into the water. The other parent got on to the nest, spent a short time preening to get its feathers comfortable, then hunkered down on the eggs.

Meanwhile, the bird now in the water swam off in search of food.

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David

Pasque flower (slightly delayed)

Pasque flower (slightly delayed)

Pasque flower in one of the front gardens in East Castle Street, Bridgnorth. Although Easter has now passed while I delayed posting these pictures, they were actually taken very near the start of the month.

Pasque flower (slightly delayed)

The garden, fronting the end house nearest the church, used to have two or three pasques with different coloured flowers out around Easter. This year when we went, this was the only one.

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David

Coot patiently brooding, West Park

Coot patiently brooding, West Park

Coot patiently sitting on its nest, by the island in West Park lake. Because its probably brooding, it’s not doing much.

I went to look for the turtle, despite it being a cold morning. The turtle wasn’t there, but what may have been the mate of the brooding coot was.