At the end of February eleven years ago there was a cold snap. Velvet shank fungi growing on a fallen tree near the Cupcake Junction tearooms on the Railway Walk, with a layer of frost on the upper surfaces. It’s one of those species which can just shrug off such mistreatment, reviving when thawed.
The top branches of a monkey puzzle tree in a front garden. Even at the very start of this month, there were signs of new growth: the short, paler green sections at the tips of the branches.
Garden birds visiting a window feeding tray over the course of a February morning (quiet periods excised).
Most of the birds were bluetits, with several visitors. One or perhaps two great tits showed briefly, as did one or two house sparrows. A robin came once or twice.
Don’t adjust your volume control – because it was recorded from inside a window, it’s silent.
A house sparrow nibbling at pussy willow catkins, or perhaps at insects which were on the catkins. The pictures were taken in Topsham, on the Exe estuary, at this time of year but several years ago.
Some winter aconites in a front garden. The bright yellow of the flowers is reminiscent of others which will appear later in the year: marsh marigolds or common meadow buttercups. They’re all members of the same family.
I think I saw my first goosanders on west midlands waters sometime back in the nineties. There started to be a few on the Severn. But I only saw them by walking from Bridgnorth on footpaths by the river until I was a long way out of town and into quiet countryside.
Since then, numbers have risen, and so have chances of seeing them in built-up areas. They are, for example, a regular feature on the Shrewsbury loop section of the Severn in winter. On two successive years, we’ve spotted birds mating within a stone’s throw of English Bridge over the Christmas holiday period.
These birds were swimming near the Bylet in Bridgnorth. One year in the noughties, a pair of goosanders nested and raised chicks on the Bylet. I’ve no idea whether they did the same the year these pictures were taken. They date from February 2020. Covid was on the way; lockdown would be declared in a few weeks, so bus trips to Bridgnorth were off the agenda.