Most people who take a walk along the Avon at Stratford head downstream from the tramway bridge or beyond. Very pleasant. It’s not as easy to find, but there’s also a path going in upstream from Clopton Bridge. Try to ignore the sounds of the often heavy traffic on the Warwick and Tiddington Roads, and the big houses on the latter with their lawns sweeping down to the opposite bank of the river. Then it is just a couple of minutes’ walk to a peaceful rural scene.
The West Park Egyptian goose standing with its tail towards me as it carefully preened, giving clear views of the rich colours and complex patterns of its plumage.
A mass of mistletoe with yellowish “golden” growth, mostly on the apple trees in the orchard of Anne hathaway’s Cottage, Shottery, some growing by the roadside nearby.
Wood pigeon busy preening, so intent on what it was doing that it was ignoring me directly below.
Vegetation giving signs of spring in late December: butterbur flowering, a sticky horse chestnut bud, and catkins dangling. All were by the Avon at Stratford.
A pause for a brief preen near the lake, then the Egyptian goose stepped out to cross the path at West Park and stalk across one of the grassy areas in search of food.