Long Tailed Tits Piddle Brook Meadows

Walking in Piddle Brook Meadows last week.  A skylark was singing.  It's song was so sweet and carrying quite a distance. Looking high into the sky it was nowhere to be seen. I realised it was instead hovering low and with wings outstretched. Singing all the time. A beautiful sound.

Soooo many long tailed just fledged tits that I was spoilt for choice when it came to taking photos. It was early morning - around 7:30 in the morning.

A very cute little fella

Even the presence of my labrador, which is usually enough to scare most of the bird population out of camera taking distance, didn't phase them. There were maybe 10-12 of them (I counted 10 in one picture so there were probably more) and most of them looked like they were slightly in shock at being out in the big world beyond the nest.

Blue Tit possibly just fledged too

Cute!

Bad Hair Day

The tree was a recently dead beech so provided a nice contrast to the birds and meant the leaves didn't get in the way. They seemed to like picking at the unfurled leaves or beech nuts on the tree. Some were still very fluffy and a few looked like their feathers would be barely enough for flight. Undeniably cute.

Naunton Beauchamp Walk. Worcestershire

We are so lucky to have to various Local Reserves and areas of Special Scientific Interest within a few miles of Upton Snodsbury. Administered by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation these are protected areas.

Aside from this the area around Naunton Beauchamp, Grafton Flyford, Flyford Flavell and Upton Snodsbury which has Cowsden with its views over toward Abberon, is dominated by sheep farming and some arable farming.  The landscape is defined as Bishampton Claylands.

Here are some photos from a recent walk from Naunton Beauchamp up Piddle Brook towards North Piddle.Just a snapshot of a typical 1/2 hour walk. What isn't typical are heavy HGVs, trailers with manure and the smells of chicken farms! Tomorrow is the Wychavon Planning Committee Meeting. We hope that common sense prevails...again.

Yellowhammer on the road

Local with his vintage caravan

Local kerbside pears used for making traditional perry

Meadowsheet in the verges (careful cutting preserves these verges)

Quince alongside Piddle Brook

Crataegus otherwise known as Hawthorn berries

Overzealous pruning that took out the buzzards perch

Hedge clearing

Crack willow remnants alongside Piddle Brook after clearance

The typical weekend cyclists drawn to the area for its quiet lanes and attractive village (with normal rural smells, not chickens!)

Dandelion

Speckled Wood

Naunton Beauchamp Village with its no-chicken-farm.org sign

The Calm Before The Storm - Beautiful Post Christmas Weather for Walking

Blue skies, a bit of frost and lots of birds describes the long walk between Naunton Beauchamp and North Piddle today. 

Most of these photos were taken about half-way between the two villages by a tree that had beautiful low sunlight and the kind of light that you only see around the Winter Solstice. Warm and soft it makes the birds glow (but only if they happen to not be in shadow which they have a habit of doing of course especially if you have a camera in your hand). 

It's about 750m away from the proposed site of the Chicken Broiler Units at Upton Snodsbury. If the proposed application is successful (it's currently with the Planning Inspectorate at Appeal) it can only be imagined what impact the smell of manure and the change to the water clarity of Piddle Brook will have on the otters, birdlife and plantlife that at the moment sustains a wonderful ecosystem.  All that could be lost....in the meantime, I keep taking photos and making the most of what we have right now. 

There's a few birds in there but well-hidden!

A flock of...? Possibly Chaffinch

Buzzard sitting in a hedge (located about 650m from site of proposed Chicken Broiler Units at Upton Snodsbury)

Close-up of Buzzard sitting in a hedge (located about 650m from site of proposed Chicken Broiler Units at Upton Snodsbury)

Buzzard takes off from hedge (located about 650m from site of proposed Chicken Broiler Units at Upton Snodsbury)

Warbler or ? 

Warbler or ? 

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?  Perfect day for a flight.

Chaffinch coming into land

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Blue Tit

Not sure what this is

Blue tit

Blue Tit

Treecreeper

No Christmas would be complete without one of these 

Treecreeper 

Treecreeper in the tree - they are very small

Checking what this is too...

Naunton Beauchamp Church - St Bartholomew's

Sparrow

For more information on the proposed chicken broiler units at Upton Snodbury visit www.no-chicken-farm.org

Crane Flies - To Live and Die

Better known in the UK as Daddy Long Legs, Crane Flies are everywhere at the moment - providing some swallows with the opportunity for hunting and demonstrating impressive aerial acrobatics. 

Crane flies only live for a short time - maybe up to two weeks. Their main purpose is to mate and then die.  

The swallows are gathering in large flocks of 60-70 in the fields close to Piddle Brook. In the late summer sunlight last weekend there were at least that number on adjacent telephone and power lines swooping down and demonstrating an effortlessness of flight that was impressive. With so many targets maybe it was easy. 

For the swallows this is a pretty critical time for storing energy prior to migrating later this month and October. http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/swallow/migration.aspx

Aside from the crane flies and swallows which due to bad light and speed are pretty hard to capture, here are a few of the latest pictures from the Piddle Brook area. 

This Buzzard took off from a tree close by and I just managed to get this shot in before it disappeared. From the Footpath alongside Piddle Brook between Naunton Beauchamp and North Piddle. 

Buzzard 

View towards Upton Snodsbury and the site of the proposed Chicken Farm

Upton Snodsbury Church from Piddle Brook

The sloes are particularly good this year. They only grow on the old wood of the blackthorn bushes which are abundant in the hedgerows around this part of Worcestershire.

Nearly time to make some Sloe Gin!

Traditional Worcestershire Cowboy and Log Cabin with the Malvern Hills in the background

Light shining above Naunton Beauchamp