Wolves Wild

Velvet shanks are a common fungus in mid-winter. I noticed these on a walk in the Smestow Valley on a cold morning.

Short video clip of shovellers on the lake at West Park. They are feeding by sifting the water immediately below the surface.

Often a pair will swim round in a tight circle, each one stirring up the water for the other’s benefit.

There was a lot of aggression between the drakes, with one incident caught on this brief clip. Breeding season approaches.

Seen on an early morning walk during the cold spell in January, frosted vegetation. Holly leaves, ivy berries and a thistle.

As the cold spell was coming to in the area at the end late in January, the ice on roads and footpaths quickly melted away once the night time temperatures rose slightly above freezing. But the partial ice covers on some of the larger pools stayed in place for several days more.

During this period, some of the West Park mallards had gathered on the ice on the lake there, and appeared to be drinking from a puddle of meltwater. Meanwhile at Perton a gang of the black-headed gulls were just standing around in a group.

Sonwdrops opening. These show every year beside the footpath leading from the Pear and Partridge to the smaller pool at Perton.

I went back to West Park yesterday, taking my (very heavy) biggest telephoto lens to get better shots of the young cormorant which is currently hanging round on the lake. As luck would have it, the bird was actually perching on a much nearer rail. It kept posing, spreading its wings and slightly shaking them to dry the feathers. I took a lot of pictures!

It’s possible the bird is staying overnight at the Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve, where one has been seen by @marcouccellini_ leaving in the mornings and returning in the evenings.