The tuft which gives the name to this small black and white duck is the feathers sticking out at the back of the head.
Here a female tufted duck in front of a female mallard to give an idea of the relative size of the two species. Tufted ducks are one of the smallest native species.
The tuft at the back of the head is less clearly visible in this male.
Deciduous trees in winter show their structure, as with this oak.
Unmistakable and, when the light catches their normally black feathers, beatifully iridescent.
These blooms are now more advanced, as here in this patch by Himley Hall yesterday.
Every hundred yards or so between the Compton and Windmill Lane bridges on the Staffs and Worcs canal, there is a wintertime little grebe territory belonging to a different individual or pair.
This bird is nearest the Windmill Lane end.
This tree seen through its reflection in the Staffs & Worcs canal.
A hungry robin grabs some peanuts on this birdfeeder.
Tracks left by a badger in the most recent fall of snow.
In the hard weather a kingfisher stands out perching on a tree by the side of a canal.
The last remaining seed case clings to one of last year’s stems on this plant.
Yet another fungus growing directly from dead wood, and apparently unaffected by the cold weather.
Another fungus which is not worried by the cold – this velvet shank was growing from the trunk of a long-dead chestnut in the car park of the former Eye Hospital.
