Castle Vale Conservation Area.

Great day to visit Castle Vale Conservation Area and do something I've always wanted to do, namely that of partaking in a spot of tree platning, this was done thanks to the lovely people at Tame Valley Wetlands just a pity the weather was a bit of a letdown, instead of the blues skies and sunshine that was forecast it was instead misty and dank, all the same it didn't stop anyone having a good time and do what we came to do, plant trees !

I also got there nice and early and did a spot of bird watching but I'll come back to that, the trees to plant came in six different varieties, Alder, Wild Cherry, Field Maple, Pedunculate Oak, Common Lime and Silver Birch, being as I was given the choice of two to plant, I predictably opted for bird friendly Alder and Silver Birch, the Alder is in the top photo, the birds in the second photo were right in front of me when I was planting my trees and what a sight they were. It was nice to see so many people planting trees, especially children, hopefully this will lead to many of them understanding and appreciating nature and wildlife for many years to come.

So what about the birding I hear you ask, in the very first field past where the horses are kept there was one of the best sights I've seen in a long while, namely that of c.200 Fieldfare, there were so many that's probably an underestimation because they covered the floor and were in all the trees in the surrounding area, including the one in the second photo, when I'd done a full lap of the area, they had then been joined by Redwings, what a wonderful sight to see a large field and all the trees surrounding the area filled to the brim with Fieldfare and Redwing, also seen in the field was a Green Woopecker, large flocks of Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch, three pairs of Bullfinch, small flocks of Blue and Great Tits and last but not least a Fox which very nearly had a male Blackbird for it's lunch, always great to see a Fox, especially in the daytime especially when it's not being chased by a load of posh people who should know better, who's sole intention is in killing the animal, what scum those 'people' are, we should be enjoying our wildlife and not trying to eradicate it.

Birds seen today on my short walk were, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Robin, c.200 Fieldfare, Redwing, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Magpie.