Wolves Wild

The Dirty Duck is a pub with a terrace giving a view on to the river in Stratford on Avon. Originally, it was the Black Swan: it’s now licenced under both names.

The river thereabouts is crowded (or overcrowded) with swans fed by people on the riverbank. They are, of course, mute swans, the native species. Their feathers are white, not black. Young birds are a brownish grey, still not black. There is a swan species with black feathers – Australian.

Earlier this month, we were surprised to see a black swan on the river there, actually on the stretch of water overlooked by the eponymous pub. It was in the midst of a group of four or five mute swans, seemingly swimming companionably with them towards the main bird feeding area.

I just had time to grab these shots on a mobile before it headed off upstream.

A crowned earthstar under trees by the riverside footpath / cyclepath by the Severn in Shrewsbury. Earthstars have (in my opinion) one of the most attractive shapes of fungi. They aren’t very common, and can be quite easy to miss, usually occurring in the undergrowth below trees or bushes. They do, however, tend to stick around for at least a few weeks once they appear.

Even among the earthstars, crowned earthstars rank only as “occasional”. This one had been kicked over, perhaps by a dog. That did give a clearer than usual view of its shape. From its state, it seemed likely that it had managed to disperse its spores before it was knocked over.

The remains of one of last year’s teazels and one of last year’s umbellifers growing on the banks of the Severn, early morning sunlight silhouetting some trees on the top of a ridge on the far bank.

One final big batch of pictures on the Shrewsbury loop of the Severn over the Christmas period.

When not grabbing bread, most of the birds spent most of their time towards the left bank of the river. Perhaps because the currents on the outside of the curve make for better fishing. Perhaps because there’s less disturbance: the right bank has busy roads or footpaths close to the river for all this stretch.

So these are all pictures taken across the river. Goosanders swimming upstream, swimming downstream; threats as one male warns another to stay away from my bird.

The stonework of Welsh Bridge and riverside fences in Shrewsbury provide the foundations for spiders weaving their webs. Morning dew leaving droplets on the webs help them stand out from the water in the background of the pictures.

The Quarry in Shrewsbury must be one of the country’s most distinctive urban parks. It’s got a riverside location, and takes up a significant fraction of that part of town enclosed in the loop of the Severn. Every August, it’s home to a well-known flower show.

On cold and misty mid-winter mornings, there tend to be fewer people around. But as the sun starts to appear, cloaked by the mist, it might be in the middle of nowhere.