Wolves Wild

A beech and a hornbeam, Bantock Park, back when the leaves had turned to their autumn colours, but while most were still on their trees.

A cormorant flying high, following the River Avon downstream over Stratford. Presumably heading for a less disturbed stretch of the waters.

Blushing bracket, a common bracket fungus. These were growing on the trunk of a tree in the small wood by the Anglers’ Walk, a footpath along the River Avon heading upstream from Clopton Bridge in Stratford.

Just visible through the leaves of this bush, a reclusive goldcrest, making itself even harder to photograph by flitting to another branch every few seconds, seemingly at random.

They aren’t fruit. They aren’t berries. The bright red, squishy covering of yew seeds are arils. Notice the open ends. Look closely down this open end, it’s possible to see the seed within.

Heron watching for fish just downstream of the River Avon lock on the Avon at Stratford. A swan was also nearby, a few yards along the shore of the island separating the lock from the weir.

The river was high after lots of recent heavy rain. The water coming down the weir was making standing waves in the river. Perhaps the heron’s prey was fish taking refuge in the backwash just upstream of this disturbance.