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David

Female orange tip butterfly, ivy leaf

Female orange tip butterfly, ivy leaf

Female orange tip butterfly resting on an ivy leaf – only the males have the orange tips to their wing tops.

This female and a male had been fluttering around each other for perhaps half a minute. The female landed on this ivy leaf right by me, so I expected the male to follow. Instead, it flew off in the opposite direction. The female stayed on the leaf, contorting its body, perhaps wafting pheromones.

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David

Jackdaw sneaking a quick drink

Jackdaw sneaking a quick drink

Bold jackdaw sneaking a quick drink of water from the poultry drinking trough, Mary Arden’s Farm.

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David

Pheasant’s eye narcissus

Pheasant's eye narcissus

Pheasant’s eye narcissus, one of the first things to catch the eye on going in to New Place, Stratford on Avon.

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David

Ducklings ashore, Wightwick Mill Lock

Ducklings ashore, Wightwick Mill Lock

Ducklings ashore, eating grass on the edge of Wightwick Mill Lock. Four of the five just carried on eating undisturbed as I walked past a yard or so away on the footpath, with just one diving into the water for safety. I couldn’t see the parents.

Almost certainly the same brood I had seen some days earlier, when only recently hatched, on the water nearer to Compton.

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David

Mangalitza piglets, Mary Arden’s Farm

Mangalitza piglets, Mary Arden's Farm

Mangalitza piglets, half grown, in the piglet sty at Mary Arden’s Farm. When I first spotted them, they were strolling round their enclosure. By the time I had got my camera out, they were dozing in the sun, right up against the brickwork of the front wall.

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David

Retreating heron, Bag’s Pool

Retreating heron, Bag's Pool

Heron at Bag’s Pool, Baggeridge Country Park. On two separate occasions as I went past the pool, the bird was standing on the wooden platform in the middle of the water. Eech time, its response to noticing me watching it was to retreat to the shelter of the bulrush bed opposite.