Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Friday 14 October 2011

Middleton Lakes NR and "Fairy Door" Part 2

I made a fleeting visit to the new RSPB Reserve at Middleton Lakes near Tamworth yesterday. Actually to say it was fleeting is a slight understatement! Emily had an appointment at the nearby Lea Marston Spa (she's still spending birthday vouchers) and after I'd dropped her off I decided I'd spend half an hour or so at the reserve until it was time to pick her up.

There were lots of pheasants in the fields and I saw plenty of wood pigeons, carrion crows and a grey heron as I drove past Middleton Hall and lake to the reserve itself.



I'm not sure how much detail of the reserve can be made out even enlarging the above photo but the lakes are a heck of a way from the car park so I just concentrated on the heronry area and woodland.

The feeders near the herony were attracting plenty of blue, great and coal tits and, although a lesser spotted woodpecker has been seen feeding recently, I had to make do with a great spotted.

There were more great tits as I walked through the woodland, a flock of long-tailed tits, and a grey squirrel. Nice to see a red admiral nectaring on ivy flowers in the autumn sunshine.

I really must make the effort and pay a proper visit in the near future.



"Fairy Door" - Part 2

Regular visitors to my blog (if I have any! :D) may remember I did a quirky blog posting in April on a "fairy door" that had suddenly appeared in an oak tree along a local lane.




I travel past the tree a lot(its very close to Millennium Wood) and over the months a door number and runes (possibly??) have also appeared.



Earlier this week Emily spotted that a letter box has now also been added





What next - a door knocker?

Any way its great fun for children of all ages!

4 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

Of course you have followers!! Love the fairy doors...that is a really cool idea. Imagine little kids passing by the tree every day and what they must say to their parents or grandparents.....really great idea. I'm exhausted today. We just came back from our hikes the past couple of days and I'm sitting on the couch thinking about making lunch and eating a bowl of grapes.

Ragged Robin said...

Thanks so much for your kind comment :D. The fairy door is brilliant - my daughter loves it now and she's 21! and for younger children its just great.
Enjoy your lunch - have really loved your Fall series - some super photos.
All the best Caroline

Lloyd Powell said...

Hi there, I really love these photos of the tree door. So much in fact, I wish to one of them on my blog. I thought I would ask though if this is OK with you. Thanks either way - Cheers, Lloyd

Ragged Robin said...

Hi Lloyd - Glad you like the tree door photos. It would be fine if you wanted to use one on your blog and thanks for asking.