May Visit to Castle Bromwich Historic Parkland Hunting for More Plant Species

 

Recently D and I made a return visit to Castle Bromwich Historic Parklands to look for more wild flower species.  It was far too hot though and on top of everything else my bridge camera has started to play up.  The macro settings haven't been right for ages which is a pain when you want to take close ups of flowers but for some reason half way through the visit the shutter button seemed to take ages to take photos and consquently I got a lot of blurred photos! I've checked all the settings but I can't find anything that would cause it.

I have a horrible feeling I may have to start using the Olympus dslr and, if so, I would really miss the zoom capabilities of the bridge camera.  I will see how it goes.

The good news is that I have now reset the camera with factory default settings and the problem seems to have gone away. Either D or I must have set a feature that was causing it. Huge thanks to Pete from The Quacks of Life blog who gave me so much support and help over this.

Castle Bromwich Historic Parkland is a Local Nature Reserve and was part of the Earl of Bradford's estate.  It is now part of the Castle Bromwich Conservation area.

A few years ago restoration work was carried out to improve paths and access to the reserve.  The LNR consists of grasslands, woodland, wetland and ponds.

We found our first new species flowering in the car park - Hogweed.

Hedgerow Cranesbill which we had already seen in Leominster.

Ox-eye Daisies

Pineapple Weed

Hogweed again!

Sycamore - the "keys" are already forming.

A grass to id - if anyone has any idea what species this is I would love to know. My grass id skills are not good even though grasses are in some of my wildflower identification books.

Sessile Oak

Elderflower

Pignut - this also grows in nearby Castle Bromwich Historic Gardens and there I have seen Chimney Sweeper moths on the plants.

Foxgloves

Bracken

We didn't go far into the woodlands this time as by now the heat was beginning to really get to me.  So we walked back past one of the ponds and back over the grasslands and visited the tearoom at Castle Bromwich Historic Gardens for tea and cake - a lovely Raspberry and Pistachio cake.

New species seen for the 2026 Wild Plant Challenge were:

• Hogweed
• Pineapple Weed
• Sycamore
• Sessile Oak (we've seen oaks before but this was the first time we counted it as I was able to get a photo)
• Foxglove
• Pignut

bringing the total now to 83.  We have also recently seen Cat's Ear in the garden and I forgot to count a few species seen in Herefordshire.

We also saw a Painted Lady butterfly on bramble flowers :)

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Hobs Moat - an Ancient Scheduled Monument

 

Surrounded by housing estates, busy roads and a shopping centre in Solihull is located a small patch of woodland which is a local nature reserve and also an Ancient Scheduled Monument known as Hobs Moat.  On the site are the remains of medieval earthworks where once a large manor stood.

I paid a visit with D on one cold January day as he wanted to write a blog post on Hobs Moat for a blog he writes occasionally on the Historic Buildings of Solihull.

I only plan to post a few photos as D has written a far more informative and researched post than I could.  If you are interested and want to learn more about the site here is the link to his blog post  Hobs Moat

Surrounded by woodland you come across what remains of the manor ie the earthworks surrounded by a moat.  

It was certainly an interesting site to visit - a little bit spooky if I am honest as there was no-one there but us! It might be worth a visit later in the year when the spring flowers arrive especially the bluebells.

I am hoping to take part in the RSPB Garden Birdwatch this weekend and I am sure many of you will be doing the same so I look forward to seeing your posts and reading about what you have seen.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)

A Walk around a Local Nature Reserve

 

Recently D and I went a walk around a local nature reserve at Castle Bromwich Historic Parkland.  Historically the parkland was part of the Earl of Bradford's estate and is part of the Castle Bromwich Conservation Area.

The last resident of the Bradford family at Castle Bromwich Hall was Lady Ida Bradford (1848-1936) who was the widow of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford.

The parkland is known locally as "Lady Bradford's".  Much restoration work has been carried out there recently under the "Love Your River Cole" project and access to the site and paths has been improved. Its a lovely area for a walk as you will see and you could be anywhere if it wasn't for the sound of traffic on the M6 not far away and planes taking off or landing at Birmingham airport!

Cow Parsley, Campion and Horse Chestnuts are flowering.

Pignut this is a good site for Chimney Sweeper moths in June and July and their caterpillars feed on Pignut. I really must try and go back then to look for them as I said to David we really had ought to try and visit this reserve at least once a month to see the changes through the seasons.

An area of acid grassland.

Then into the wetland and woodland area.

Hawthorn is still flowering well.

We then wandered over the grassland area.

Why do people dump rubbish?This makes me so angry.  They must have parked in a bus layby on a nearby A road then clambered over a fence and walked to dump this. There is a council tip about half a mile away!!!

Back into the woodland

Then the return route back through the acid grassland.

The highlight of the visit was a pair of Small Copper butterflies.

Back at home all eight of the Blue Tit chicks fledged on the 25th and 26th May. Rubbish photo of the three chicks which were last to leave the nest box.

First damselflies of the year in the garden. There were two pairs of Large Red Damselflies mating.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks.