The countryside in Britain is exceptionally beautiful at the moment and so too are the parks close to home in urban Bristol.On an exceptionally sunny day I went out for a walk from home in the hope of doing some bird photography but soon realised that I had the wrong camera/lens as it was the trees and the landscapes which I needed to be photographing. I tried to make do.

The path in to Stoke Park from Stapleton

Moorhen with chicks on the small pond next to Duchess Pond

The small pond and then Duchess Pond with views of the restorative work being done in the background

A grey heron on the flooded part of Stoke Park (hard to imagine today that we have had so much rain)

This grey heron was clearly more nervous than the ones in Eastville Park and flew off in the direction of Filton imagining itself to be Concorde

All the blossom was looking amazing

Buttercups are now at their best

Dandelions have had their day

… or have they?

Red Clover standing out amongst the greens and yellows

The Dower House which dominates this part of the city looking better for being shrouded with trees

A view from the top of Stoke Park with the houses (including ours) hidden by the trees

A glorious place for a stroll so close to the city

… or to fly your kite

… or to see the verdant suburb below

Wide open spaces just to stroll right next to a housing estate

Lots of butterflies (here a small copper) everywhere

My lens certainly couldn’t do justice to the trees of Eastville Park justice.

And really I was too close for these Canada geese with chicks

… or at least that’s what these two protective parents felt.

A duckling living perilously on its own

A more tolerant grey heron here in Eastville Park

Volunteers have done wonders controlling these along the River Frome

Still lots of ramsons to be seen

You don’t want to get confused with these type of plants – probably cow parsley but could be poison hemlock

The best of them all: the candles of the horse chestnut

Beech tree

Herb Robert (but I think this is Red Campion?) was the most observed species in the recent first global City Nature Challenge (see link below)

Perhaps it’s not so surprising that Bristol and Bath were best in Europe for first global City Nature Challenge

http://www.bnhc.org.uk/bristol-bath-best-europe-first-global-city-nature-challenge/

Click below for gallery of photos from my walk today: