Dunorlan Park

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

I walked round Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells today (17th March) and thought it looked rather tame compared with the country parks I usually go to.  Short grass, a small lake, not much botanical  going on.  But it wasn't all like that, and I was pleased to find a couple of things I had wanted to get a good photo of.

One was this Coltsfoot.

Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

It's not at all rare, but I don't know of any good patches near my home.  It's one of those plants that puts out flowers before you see any leaves.  There were a few very healthy clumps among rocks right next to the water.  People - like my companion that day - tend to glance at it and think it's a Dandelion, but the lack of leaves and those thick, scaly flower stems say very clearly that it's not.

Greylag Goose, Anser anser.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

The other thing I had been looking for was an Alder.  There are lots of the larger Italian Alder planted near me as a street tree, but the one below is the less robust Alnus glutinosa.  The purplish, slightly flattened leaf buds are unlike the rounded greener buds on the Italian variety.

Alders have small, loosely knit cones later in the year, and the old ones hang around all year long.  Here are the small red female flowers in structures that develop into cones later.

Alder, Alnus glutinosa, leaf bud and female flowers.  Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 17 March 2014.

Of course, there were also a few birds around, and I photographed some on principle.  I had my EOS 6D with 100mm macro lens and ring flash, and I don't hump that around and then not take photos with it.