Tuesday December 27 - The Elephant in the room

 Towards the north-western edge of Redditch there lies a very promising pool. It is surrounded on two sides by woodland and has a substantial reed-bed along its north-eastern side. It has a reasonable pedigree of past avian visitors, and I should be visiting it. But there's an Elephant in the room. It lies wholly within the grounds of HMP Hewell. It's a prison.

There was a time when it could still be visited by simply driving into the prison carpark, knocking on the door, and signing the visitors book. In those days it was still a Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Reserve. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Today I decided to try a different approach. I parked in Batchley, near the pond, and followed a footpath up the Batchley Brook until I was out of Redditch and heading for Hewell. I was hoping to finding an aspect from where I could view Hewell Grange Pool. The results were mixed.

A tantalising glimpse

I found a spot from where I could see a tiny fraction of the south-west corner of the pool in the distance. A Little Egret and a couple of Tufted Ducks being the only birds visible.

The course of the Batchley Brook did have a few compensations. A Kingfisher which made a sharp exit before I spotted it on a perch, another Little Egret, and a flock of at least 42 Siskins.

Siskin

I've been trying to decide how to approach next year. I certainly intend to repeat the #LocalBigYear format. One thought is to concentrate on the rivers and streams, and look out for dragonflies during the summer. I notice that Patchwork Challenge has relaunched itself, and I am a little tempted to enter Morton Bagot again as my patch. But I'm still undecided, I may have done it to death in previous years.

In the meantime, 2022 looks to be going out with a whimper.