Wolves Wild

Candy-striped spider, still stoically guarding her nest. The nest is on the underside of two hazel leaves, which are stitched together by some of the outer threads of the nest.

The bindweed flowers of the Paddock at Newbridge were proving attractive to many kinds of hoverflies. Here a common flower fly is exploring one of the flowers.

Another tree likely to be in trouble. This oak on Tettenhall Upper Green has two large bracket fungi sticking to the base of the trunk.

Also known as traveller’s joy, old man’s beard is one of the few plants to flower in late summer, when most are already ripening their fruits. The only native British clematis, it climbs along hedges, sometimes also along fences.

A clump of honey fungus in front of a cherry tree on a quiet residential street in Tettenhall. It’s likely to be infecting the roots of the tree. If so, the infection will eventually be fatal, though possibly not for many years.

At least six ring-necked parakeets were in West Park, high in the trees, calling persistently to one another. Occasionally, one would move to another vantage point, high in an alternative nearby tree, still hidden in the foliage. They may have been young ones, dispersing after a successful breeding season: there are nest sites on Tettenhall ridge / the Smestow valley.

This is the only one I managed to grab a distant shot of. It flew to the island, landing on one of the willows overhanging the lake. Seconds after I got this picture, it moved deeper into the leafy canopy.