Middleton Hall: the birds and the ... butterflies

We went on an excellent walk this afternoon. 1.75 miles up the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to Fishers Mill Bridge, then a superbly signposted RSPB walk to Middleton Hall.

The first part of the walk was through woods with signs telling you what you might see or hear.

We heard the rooks only moments before reaching this sign. It reads: "The rooks. You can hear the rooks busy in the rookery staking claim to an old nest and making any repairs needed, using moss, leaves, wool, hair etc."

We saw herons in the heronry and pheasants in the fields. It was time for a cup of tea, so we patronised the Café 180 in the courtyard in the sun (through the archway).

Middleton Hall itself looked splendid.

Now my wildlife photos don't come up to the standard of Irene Jamieson's, but here are two I grabbed with my compact camera.

First a robin by a sign explaining about robins being fiercely territorial. Bird seed had been scattered on a tree stump nearby; we saw blue tits, great tits, more robins, chaffinches and a wren - all in the space of a couple of minutes.

I managed to get as close to this comma butterfly as my camera would allow. Usually such creatures fly away if they think I might get a half-decent pic!

When you find yourself on the B&F we can thoroughly recommend stopping by Fishers Mill Bridge and doing this easy walk. The other side of the canal (towpath side) has acres of wetland with as much waterfowl as you could want.