Wolves Wild

The warmer weather has finally brought on some flowers, providing welcome daffodil pollen for insects like this fly.

Bracket fungi, whimsically seating for tree nymphs.

Growing on two of the trees on the bank of the Smestow not far from the Nature Reserve Ranger Station.

CORRECTION: identified by Lukas Large as possibly blushing brackets

More of the impressive livestock at Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve. These birds are hens, not, as I thought, cocks.

This peahen is part of the stock at Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve. The plumage looks like it would be a hindrance in the wild, though less so than the gaudier males.

One of the primroses by the Smestow Valley Ranger Station after heavy overnight rain had bounced some bits of soil onto the flowers.

Soay sheep ram (first 2 pictures), part of the livestock at the Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve.

Castlemilk moorit ram, also at Pendeford Mill.

Ewes from both breeds are kept in another field across the road. They were pictured here.

This East Park squirrel has found a fat ball someone put out for birds, bitten through the string holding it up, then carried the ball in its mesh bag across the road and high into a tree, where it has begun to make a meal of it.

Heron guarding its nest high in a tree at the Pendeford Mill heronry.

Probably the same bird featured in the previous post. This time the pictures were taken from the far side of the pool.

One of the birds from the heronry at Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve standing sentry duty by its nest, which probably holds a chick. As I stood directly under the tree, the nest looked huge.

Some of the dozen or so denizens of the Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve heronry standing in the field uphill from the reserve.

Each of them seemed to be pretending to be the only bird there, ignoring all the other herons and a handful of Canada geese which were also nearby.

A closer view of one of the wood anemone flowers in the Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve woodland.

A carpet of flowering wood anemone in the woods (where else?) on the Pendeford Mill Nature Reserve.