Iris, flower buds and an opened flower, overlooking the basin of the Stratford Canal and the Avon, Bancroft Gardens, Stratford.
Swan pair sleeping
Pair of swans, their necks curled back over their bodies, asleep in what may be there nest.
Bee sunbathing on sycamore leaf
Early on a sunny but chilly spring morning, a bee resting on a sycamore leaf to get warmer. A few galls can also be seen on the leaf.
Mangalitza pigs, Mary Arden’s Farm, Wilmcote
They look like very old carpets have been brought to life, but these mangalitzas on Mary Arden’s Farm at Wilmcote have more character than either of the other two types of rare breed pigs there, Tamworths or Oxford sandy and black.
Blackthorn blossom, Barley Field
Blossom on the blackthorn hedge on the side of the Smestow Valley Nature Reserve’s Barley Field. By the time I had got out to visit the spot, the flowers were beginning to go over.
Oxford sandy and black pigs, Mary Arden’s Farm, Wilmcote
Mary Arden’s Farm in Wilmcote has a selection of traditional breeds of farm stock, to create a visitor experience of a farm in Shakespeare’s time, and eventually destined to be a source of supply for the tables of the restaurants in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties.
These four Oxford sandy and black pigs bring the total up to three types of pigs on the farm this year.