Wolves Wild

Reed on the edge of the Stratford Canal at Wilmcote, with an abundant covering of pollen.

Male and a female orange tip butterfly in flight close to each other over the Compton Rough flower patch. I thought they were going to mate. Instead, each of them settled on a flower and began eating nectar.

Cowslip flowering: one of the plants growing in a grassy area on the banks of the big pool at Perton recently.

Female orange tip butterfly, on the same patch of Compton Rough flowers as this male. Females lack the orange patch on the upper wing which give the species its name, but the green camouflage patching of the underwing is similar in both sexes.

Coot’s nest in a patch of bulrushes on the anglers’ pool at Perton. There is one adult, and at least one chick (red beak and orange feathers on the back of its head).

Orange tip butterflies are usually wary of anyone getting too close to them. I recently noticed a couple of males and a couple of females on a patch of flowers by the canal in Compton Rough. This male, like one of the females, was so intent on feeding on the nectar and occasionally spreading its pheronomes that I could get clear enough for a series of photos.