Friday November 12 - Coming full circle

 I'm starting to embrace my 10km circle project as the weather has settled down to a mild spell over the last week. A visit to Arrow Valley Lake on Tuesday served only to reinforce my thoughts about the place. It contained no interesting wildfowl, and I spent a pleasant but unproductive hour checking the bushes in the hope of turning up something decent. 

This morning I visited Alvechurch to remind myself where it all started. I wasn't quite born there, but my family moved to the village in about 1961 and we remained until 1966. As I can clearly remember seeing birds during that time it gives me a clue as to when my interest in birding first began.

In fact I can recall being bought a bird book, The Observers Book of British Birds, for my fourth birthday. It is possible that my interest had been sparked even earlier because we used to visit my Nain (Welsh for grandmother) in Penmaenmawr every year, and her garden was regularly visited by a Rose-ringed Parakeet, so I was always looking out for "Nain's parrot". When it wasn't there, the garden was always full of Greenfinches hoovering up the sunflower seeds she put out.

In Alvechurch my list of birding recollections is very small, but clear. Two Goldfinches in the close, battalions of Starlings heading towards their Birmingham roost in the evenings, and best of all a Spotted Flycatcher which I found in a hedge on my way to school when I'm guessing I would have been about seven. 

So this morning I decided to park in the close and retrace my steps to my old infants school.

The Close

Its a weird experience revisiting your childhood. The close itself seemed small, and the distance to the school short, but then of course I was a lot smaller. The house itself no longer had a garage, and the front lawn where my dad had planted a tree, was transformed into a brick-effect driveway. All rather disappointing.

At least there were still plenty of Starlings. Not the thousands which used to fly over, but at least 104 on the rooftops in and around the close. I walked to Snake Lane and made my way up to St Laurence's church. 

The church

The churchyard contained several large Yews, a cedar, and some substantial holly bushes. It looked to have the potential for Hawfinch, or Black Redstart, but I had to settle for a handful of Greenfinches.

Greenfinches

Eventually I located the footpath to School Road. In my school days it was bordered by the Spotted Flycatcher hedge on one side, and a field on the other. At least the hedge was still there, but the field is now a housing estate.

At last I reached the site of the school. To be fair, I knew it had gone within a few years of our departure from Alvechurch. My memory of it is extremely hazy, but it seems that the old building is still there. It is now a Roman Catholic Church. The playing field where I once found a dead Song Thrush is now part of the gardens to yet more housing.

My bird list struggled to a paltry 23 species, but included several flocks of Redwings, a few Fieldfares, and a single Mistle Thrush.

I promise to make my next post less self-indulgent, and back on the subject of Morton Bagot.