Wolves Wild

Crows often menace birds of prey larger than themselves to try to drive them out of a territory whivh both birds claim.

This carrion crow and buzzard both live in or near the Smestow Valley Nature Reserve, and were re-enacting a scene I regularly see wheh I am walking across the Barley Field section of the reserve. Most of the pictures I take show silhouettes or blurs, but this time both birds came out clearly, even showing the pattern on the underside of the buzzard’s wings.

The buzzard is one of a pair which often fly together. This was the larger one: the female.

Black-headed gulls and lesser black backed gulls settled on the same ground on a playing field.

The plant with the barbed seed head which inspired the invention of Velcro™.

At the end of last month, these holly berries were just beginning to turn from their original green colour.

Looking past the largest of the erratics in West Park and over the floral beds to the pre-dawn sky in late September.

Here the big rock can just about be made out in the lower right of the picture.

At the end of September, sunrise is about seven o’clock, so an alarm clock isn’t needed to get up to see the colours of the dawn. In the minutes before the sun actually rises there can be stunning colours in the sky over Wolverhampton city centre as seen from West Park.

Sunrise is around seven o’clock again at the end of October, just after the clocks go back.

This goose and duck seemed to be operating as an ill-assorted pair, at least for the purposes of trying to hustle bread from me as I walked along a towpath.

White plumage in water fowls means they are probably domesticated, though possibly now escapees.

They were hanging out on the canal at Wightwick recently.

This small and ornate statuette is one of a pair from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur.

It is in the British Museum. Its twin is in a gallery in the United States.

Still weather where there are lots of chances for spotting the water lingering on plants after the latest bout of rain.

Here are a couple of roses I noticed recently.

This view of a roadside thistle’s flower was taken early last month.