The West Park cygnets swimming and feeding by the shore of the boating lake early one morning. All six of the brood still present, though never all in the same photo. All seemed to be thriving.
Lone grey spotted amanita
Lone grey spotted amanita growing on the lawn of a front garden. The mushrooms appear in the same area every year, at an ever earlier date.
I first noticed them in August of 2013. In subsequent years, July and then June. This one was in mid-May.
Coot chick feeding time
Coots: feeding time for a lone chick. The parent bird was gathering bits of bread, thrown on West Park boating lake for the ducks and geese, and passing them to the chick.
Lupin, closed, lupin open
Lupins in the Castle Grounds park, Bridgnorth. One with the flowers open, the other with the flower buds still closed.
Greylag parent, seeing off intruder
Greylag parent, from one of the families featured in yesterday’s post, seeing off an intruder. The offender was one of a small group of other adult greylags which were hanging round in the vicinity. All the vigilance of the greylag parents was directed towards these birds – they were paying no attention to me, perhaps because I was taking care not to get close.
Cinnamon bug on leaf
Cinnamon bug, its red with black spots colour scheme contrasting strongly with the leaf it was on. Yet another species which until recently had a British range limited to near the south coast of England, now spreading northwards thanks to global warming.
This individual had overwintered as an adult. Look out for the new generation in August / September.