A Cold December Day at the Gardens

I popped into Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens for an hour on Wednesday - it was bitingly cold and I rather wished I hadn't forgotten my gloves!

I saw several robins as I walked around - they seemed to be following me in that way they have and it was a shame I hadn't got some birdseed or breadcrumbs with me.

Birdfeeders situated in a clump of trees near the South Pond and Stumpery were attracting quite a few blue and great tits plus a coal tit - the first time I've seen this species here. A sparrowhawk flew through the gardens and there were loads of blackbirds on the plentiful holly berries (I seem to remember reading there is a shortage of holly berries in parts of the country but we seem to have loads here in the West Midlands/Warwickshire). I was pleased to see a flock of redwings - presumably feeding on berries too.





Lady Bridgeman Garden



Several gardeners were still busy working around the Gardens



Lots of mistletoe and holly stacked on tables









West Pond - looking through the West Claire-Vole towards the Hall



There were loads of these toadstools on the edge and within a small wooded area. To give an idea of scale they varied in size from a tea plate up to a dinner plate. I've had a look through my field guides and my best guess is a Brittle Gill or Funnel species - Giant Funnel??? One thing is certain I am unlikely to be trusting my id skills to serve up foraged toadstools/mushrooms for tea!







A few vegetables remain in the South Kitchen Garden



The Lower Wilderness



Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel

Millennium Wood and Garden Birds

I stopped off for a brief walk this morning round Millennium Wood - not as many species around as last week. The usual wood pigeons and carrion crows and a couple of blue tits. A small flock of lesser redpoll (had chance for a better look this time and am pretty confident they are all lesser!) were still present feeding on silver birch seeds. There were loads of blackbirds feeding on hawthorn berries in a hedgerow just over the road from the reserve but no fieldfares or redwings!

Bird-wise the garden is still fairly quiet. Below is a list of the species visiting last week (the number of individual birds refers to the maximum seen in the garden at any one time and not the total number in a week!!).

Blue Tit 3
House Sparrow 14
Feral Pigeon 5
Blackbird 2
Goldfinch 9
Great Tit 2
Coal Tit 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 (a female and male are both visiting but never at the same time)
Robin 1
Dunnock 1
Long Tailed tit 4
Carrion Crow 1
Wood Pigeon 3
Grey Heron 1 - it was by the pond but flew off as soon I walked in the kitchen (we get a couple of visits each year from this species)
Stock Dove 1 (pleased to see this species again - not a regular visitor)


Apart from long-tailed tit, carrion crow and grey heron all the species visited the feeders or took food from the ground. At the moment there is a container full of fat balls, a fat-filled half coconut, two feeders with sunflower hearts and a feeder with a seed and dried mealworm mix. I also put seed on the lawn and bird table and throw a few apples on the lawn. I stopped putting out peanuts last winter as they just weren't getting eaten. The sunflower hearts are by far the most popular food.

We are getting up to four grey squirrels in the garden eating food that falls from the feeders above - must admit there is a baffle on the feeding station pole to protect the feeders from squirrel attack!






I'm reading a brilliant book at the moment - "Life Stories" by David Attenborough. The book provides the complete texts of the first 5 months of the weekly BBC radio ten minute talks given by David Attenborough in 2009. Each chapter is illustrated by his personal selection of pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed his Frozen Planet TV series - it was really superb.

Christmas at Baddesley Clinton

I stopped off at Baddesley Clinton this afternoon partly to have a look round the National Trust Shop and partly because I wanted to have a look inside the House which had been decorated for Christmas.

Baddesley Clinton is a medieval moated manor house in Warwickshire which dates from the fifteenth century. It was home to the Ferrers family for 500 years and in Elizabethan times was a haven for persecuted catholics. David and Emily loved it here when they were little - its got 3 priestholes, ghosts and a mysterious, indelible blood stain in the library said to be connected with the murder of a Baddesley priest who was romantically involved with a Nicholas Brome's wife.










The Courtyard











Every room in the house seem to be decorated for Christmas even the bedrooms. In the dining room the table had been set for a Victorian Christmas dinner and there were even displays of old Christmas cards. I had the usual problems with low light, high ISO and very very slow shutter speeds as flash photography was not allowed so most of the photos were very blurred. I've selected a few of the slightly better ones below to give you an idea of the interior of the house.


























Christmas Tree near the restaurant



There were some nice heron sculptures for sale.



I had been hoping to go a walk round the grounds but I had spent far too long in the house and it was time to leave after a quick look round the shop where I bought a Christmas decoration for home.

Shame about the Weather!

Its my birthday today and normally we go for a walk round one of our favourite nature reserves followed by a pub lunch.

Last year we went to Ladywalk (a West Midlands Bird Club reserve) and, although the weather was really cold with a heavy hoar frost it was at least sunny and dry and we were lucky enough to see a lesser spotted woodpecker!




This year the weather was cold, windy and wet. I don't mind walking in the cold and windy weather I can just about tolerate but wind and rain combined are not my idea of fun so we forgot the walk and made a beeline for one of our favourite pubs - The Plough.



Had a lovely lunch - something more substantial than the usual cheesey chips!

Hopefully, I'll manage to get out for a birding trip at least once before Christmas. The bitterns are beckoning at several reserves and I see that there is a drake 1st winter smew at Middleton Lakes which would be a life tick for me.

Persistence finally starts to pay off!

Stopped off at Millennium Wood for a quick walk this morning - it was cold (three degrees centigrade), frosty and sunny.





Bird-wise things looked a bit more promising as I drove along the entrance road to this small reserve - with a handsome male chaffinch amongst the holly at the side of the road. Typically, it was on the horse paddock side of the road not on the reserve side but at least its an addition to the "Birds Seen Nearby or From the Reserve" list.

Most of the walk only revealed magpies and wood pigeons (as per usual plus the inevitable dogs/walkers) but the area near the mature oak trees was again the most productive. Blackbird and blue tit were seen amongst the trees and then I was really chuffed to see a male and female bullfinch tucking into berries - they seemed remarkably tame and unfazed by my presence (shame I hadn't taken the camera). Finally, there were a group of ten small birds feeding on birch seeds near the entrance to the reserve and right by the car park - overjoyed to see lesser redpoll. (Well, I am assuming they were all lesser redpoll as I only had a cheap pair of binoculars with me that I keep in the car and I couldn't check enough detail to see if any were rarer species).

I was rather pleased to add four new species to the list of birds seen on the reserve and one seen nearby!

I was considering giving up on this site but it just goes to shown that persistence can pay off if you visit a site often enough. So I will persevere a little longer.

A Few New Birds at Millennium Wood and a Theatre Trip

Its a lovely sunny day here today although its very cold. So I stopped off for a quick walk around Millennium Wood early this morning. I had almost finished my circuit of this small reserve having only seen a few birds - the usual carrion crow and wood pigeon (in fact I saw more dogs/dog walkers than birds!) when I stopped for 10 minutes to check out the mature oak trees.

This area was far more productive and I managed to add blackbird, robin and great spotted woodpecker to the reserve bird list. Well actually, I am "cheating" a bit here as these birds were all seen just off the reserve so I've decided to have two lists one of birds seen on the reserve and one of birds seen on and from the reserve!

I spot something new every time I walk round and this time it was a log pile - good for minibeasts and there were loads of holly berries along the entrance road. In fact, the berries on the reserve still seem untouched so surely something will be along soon to feast on them. Clumps of seedheads scattered everywhere might attract some goldfinches too.

Last night we went on a theatre trip to see Sleeping Beauty, a play written by Rufus Norris and based on the original story by Charles Perrault. It was presented by the Birmingham Rep at the Crescent Theatre. The journey was a complete nightmare as the traffic in Birmingham was at a virtual standstill and it took us an hour to cross the City Centre. The performance was due to start at 7.00 p.m. and I drove into the car park at 5 to 7 thinking I was going to miss the first half of the performance. Luckily the car park is only a 100 yards from the theatre and I managed to grab the second parking space on the first level(someone must just have left) and I had even more luck in that the performance was a bit late starting so I made it with seconds to spare!

I'm glad we finally made it as it was great Christmas treat. The play is a musical, humorous but gruesome and frightening in parts. Its not a Disney type version of the story more Roald Dahl or Grimms Fairy Tales (does anyone else remember The Grimms Brothers stories and Hans Christian Andersen? My grandparents had copies of each and when I was little I used to frighten myself dreadfully with the stories - I still shudder over the story of The Little Match Girl - I am sure it must have given me nightmares!).

The play is full of princes and princesses, fairies, ogre/ogress and slaves with some great lighting, sound and special effects and a really clever use of puppets. It would appeal to both children (aged at least 7) and adults and as the publicity for the play says "Expect fairytale romance, hideous ogres, sinister spells and a magical Christmas show like no other!"

A nice glass of mulled wine and a mince pie at the interval completed a great evening out even if the traffic was horrendous!




Publicity photo for the show taken from the Birmingham Repertory Theatre's website.

Garden Sparrowhawk and Christmas Pudding Time

What connection do sparrowhawks have with Christmas pudding you may wonder? Well, there is a tenuous connection as I was grating an orange and lemon for the Christmas pudding this morning, I glanced out of the kitchen window and there was a large bird bathing in the pond. It flew into the whitebeam tree and started preening - a sparrowhawk (juvenile, I think). It stayed long enough for me to change the lens on the camera and get out onto the patio to take a few very record shots (well it was 50 foot away!). It was a great encounter that made my day.





and a slightly cropped version



I managed to miss "Stir-up Sunday" last weekend so am a week behind with my Christmas baking. I do love Christmas especially the preparation and anticipation which I sometimes think are more enjoyable than the actual event!

I broke with tradition this year and tried a new pudding recipe - here's the dried fruit, cherries and candied peel prepared last night and left to soak in lots of alcohol.



Here's the Christmas pudding all mixed and ready to go in the bowls



Ready for steaming - yes, I know there should be a string handle to make it easy to get out of the steamer but I haven't yet worked out to create one! Brian usually helps (he is far more practical than me!) but he'd gone out to fetch the Sunday papers.



I decided to experiment with cooking methods this year - I steamed the larger of the puddings on top of the cooker as usual but the two smaller puddings I put in a roasting dish containing about 2 inches of water which I covered with a double layer of foil and cooked in the oven on a low temperature. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the cooking methods and also how the recipe compares with my usual one.

Next weekend I'll be making the Christmas cake followed by mincemeat the weekend after.