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David

Yew flowers (male)

Yew flowers (male)

Yews are dioecious – the trees bear either male flowers or female, not both. These male flowers were already opening in mid-February. A search of nearby female yews showed no signs of their flowers, not even buds. The normal flowering season is March to April.

Yew flowers (male)

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David

Pair of swans, threat posture, West Park

Cobb, threat posture

Pair of swans on the West Park boating lake, swimming in the swan threat posture – wings raised from the body to make them look larger.

The cobb (male) was in front, the pen (female) only just behind. In the shots of single birds, the cobb is swimming from left to right. The pen seems to be headed straight for me. Actually, she changed course to make for someone standing near to me, feeding bread to birds.

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David

Signs of spring – daffodils, not yet open

Signs of spring - daffodils, not yet open

Middle of the month, and daffodil clumps developing buds of the flowers which were not yet open.

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David

Rooted (yew, West Park)

Rooted (yew, West Park)

The roots of this yew in West Park seemed to twist around each other. The tree looks ancient, but is unlikely to be older than the park (founded 1881).

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David

Flock of Seagulls, West Park

Flock of Seagulls

A long way from the sea, this flock in flight is some of the black-headed gulls resident in West Park.

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David

Gorse flowers, breezy day

Gorse flowers, breezy day

Flowers on a gorse bush by the Birmingham Canal towpath. The breeze that day meant the branch was almost always on the move.