Still No Moths, Millennium Wood and another Theatre Outing

I put out the moth trap last night for GMS Week 4. Minimum temperature recorded was minus 0.7 degrees centigrade so I wasn't surprised to find an empty trap again this morning!



I haven't been to Millennium Wood for ages so as I was in the area this morning and had half an hour to spare I made a brief visit. It was freezing cold with a bitingly cold wind.

This small nature reserve covers 10 acres and was planted with over 9000 trees and shrubs in 2000.




Most of the time (like today) I see very few birds just the commoner species such as Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Robin and Blue Tits but occasionally visits pay dividends and I've seen large flocks of Lesser Redpoll, Long-Tailed Tits, plus Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and Bullfinches







The most productive part of the reserve, bird-wise, tends to be the area along the entrance road - there's a horse paddock on the opposite side of the road to the reserve and the hedgerows contains lots of holly bushes and mature oak trees. On the reserve side there is a layer of shrubs and bramble under the silver birches.







Last night David and I went to the Old Repertory Theatre for an event by The Rep called "Hidden Histories" which has been created by The Foundry - an artists' development programme for theatre makers, writers and directors. The evening consisted of a tour of the theatre with various events explaining the history of the Birmingham Rep which is 100 years old this year. The Rep spent the early part of its life at the Old Rep Theatre before moving to a new Theatre in Broad Street. In each of the locations we visited such as the Stage, Dressing Rooms and an Exhibition, 7 different short plays were enacted each covering an incident in the history of the Rep. It was a fascinating evening and we got chance to take part as the crowd in a scene from First Night/Twelfth Night(The Rep's first ever play). It was interesting to stand on stage and see the auditorium from the actor's viewpoint. The exhibition was very interesting with various props, programmes, costumes, miniature stage sets and information about the Rep's performances over the last 100 years. The last play of the evening was by David's friend who attends the Foundry as a Screenwriter.


Back at home the cold, snowy weather has brought in a few species that rarely visit the garden these days - Mistle and Song Thrushes though no Fieldfare this time. The Goldcrest is seen on the feeders every day and 3 wrens are still roosting in the hanging basket.



Primroses and Cowslip flowers and buds are covered in snow. I was hoping this week to return to St Giles - the churchyard I discovered last year which has masses of primroses. There doesn't seem to be much point at the moment if they are going to be as snow covered as ours.!