The yew tree

It has been a quiet winter for winter thrushes. After hearing streams of them over the garden on nights in the autumn, they have been in short supply and I had so far drawn a blank in 2015. I was pleased therefore that on a walk around Novers Hill today I flushed a number of Blackbirds from the base of  Yew tree. After the Blackbirds a few Redwings flew out, with their distinctive high pitch call.

Yew (Taxus baccata)

Yew is the only native conifer I am likely to find in my 1km square, in fact it is quite a distinctive tree of the Long Mynd with several ancient Yews adorning the ridges where other trees have disappeared. A look underneath this tree showed why the thrushes were so interested.

Yew (Taxus baccata) berries

The crop of berries was providing a real bounty and it was no surprise to find that when I walked past the Yew that the Redwings had returned. They were joined by a small group of Mistle Thrushes chasing each other round this old tree.