Middleton Hall, Tamworth.

Yesterdays trip to Middleton Hall in Tamworth wasn't actually for birding but it was for the 'Plant Hunters Fair' but I'm obviously not going to go to a location such as that and not do some birding

So being as Middleton Lakes is adjacent to the Hall, I thought that I'd park up in the car park and observe the birds on the feeders for a while but before you reach the car park you have to drive past Bodymoor Heath which is Aston Villa Football Club's Training Ground and what greeted me was a complete and utter disgrace, of which I must point out is not the fault of Aston Villa but the HS2, because the Villa are having to relocate parts of the training ground facility to make way for the HS2 route, all of the trees and bushes across a huge area have now gone forever. If you recall on my last blog from Middleton Lakes that the trees were full of hundreds of Redwing, Fieldfare and Starling and the hedgerows were full of Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock etc, now it's just a terrible looking wasteland devoid of any birds and wildlife and to think there will be trains going past that spot one day at up to 250 miles an hour, shame on every single person that's took a backhander to make the biggest 'white elephant' ever happen ! Once all the ancient woodlands have gone, they are gone FOREVER, don't give me all this crap about we (the HS2) are going to plant new trees and create so called 'green corridors', the clue is in the word 'ancient' and these so called 'corridors' will completely negate any good they supposedly do by the massive amount of irrecoverable harm they do to the landscape, nature and wildlife and I'll say it again, SHAME ON EVERY LAST SINGLE ONE OF YOU !!!

Anyway, rant over, was it a rant or just common sense ? Either way it was then on to watch the birds on the feeders and a walk down the path to feed the birds further down the track, the mealworms went down a storm.

Then it was on to Midldleton Hall which has over 950 years of history with beautiful historic grounds and gardens and a very impressive lake. the Plant Hunters Fair was much better than I'd expected with a wide variety of plants and flowers on offer as you can see in this tweet. Plant Hunters Fair.

So after a visit to the Hall, a walk around the Fair and walled garden it was 'binoculars time' around the trees, woodland and lake, saying that a Green Woodpecker flew straight in front of me before I could even get them out, which was a nice surprise.

Birds seen today, were House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Raven, Jackdaw, House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Coot, Mallard and Canada Goose, also seen were the following juveniles, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Dunnock, House Martin, Moorhen, Coot and Mallard Duckling.

If you're into history and historic buildings then Middleton Hall is always worth a visit and likewise if like gardening the Plant Hunters Fair are a must.

So there you have it, thanks to the weather being too hot you've had to wait a month since my last blog but when I come back, you get a rant, a birding list and advice for future days out !