Local Birding

I had to give my daughter a lift to Coleshill yesterday. Coleshill is a market town in North Warwickshire and I remembered that the parish church of St Peter and St Paul is open on Wednesdays between 11.00 and 1.00 p.m. The church has a superb twelfth century font and some medieval table tombs with effigies of knights so I decided to visit and take some photos. Unfortunately, the church is only open April to September so I had to abandon that idea and decided on a drive round the local lanes stopping off at various places.

It was freezing cold and, as I'd planned to walk round the church, I didn't have enough layers on for walking far so I didn't see too many birds - 3 buzzards, 3 pheasants and numerous chaffinches, blue tits, blackbirds, carrion crows and wood pigeons and several sightings of magpies carrying sticks to rebuild last year's nests.

Highlight of the trip was a field near Hams Hall Business Park which had a large flock of 50+ starlings, 20+ fieldfare and around half a dozen redwings. Redwing is a new bird for the year list. Still no sign of any waxwings on the berries at the business park but I did see more redwings and blackbirds feeding there.

My bird 2011 list stands at an embarrassingly low 46! - hopefully I will get out to a local nature reserve soon and see a few more species.

Garden Update

A few photos taken in the garden this morning

The flowers in patio pots have suffered with the cold and snowy weather but there are a few winter pansies flowering.



Clump of primroses coming into flower



The log pile in the wooded area at the top of the garden which started out as a "hedgehog" home is getting larger. Hopefully, it has provided winter shelter for invertebrates if not amphibians or hedgehogs.



Bluebell leaves are starting to shoot and I am not sure what species of bird met with a grisly end. Could it be a magpie?



Clematis seedheads are still clinging on and looking pretty in the winter sunlight