Middleton Lakes

We braved the M42 this morning to meet our friends John and Jennie at the RSPB Centre at Middleton Lakes in Staffordshire. It's a lovely place, acres of woodland, meadows and lakes.  Very quiet and tranquil.  There were quite a few people there, I guess it was still the school's half-term, though with all the space it wasn't a problem.  We had a picnic lunch at one of the tables near the RSPB car park and visitor kiosk then took a walk through the woods to the main lake.

As well as the birds there were quite a few damselfly around.  Our best sight, captured by Jennie on her camera, was a baby woodpecker sticking its head in and out of a high hole in one of the trees, no doubt waiting for food from its mum.  I did manage to get a photo of a treecreeper which I've put in the extras but my favourite pic is this blue damselfly.

The motorway was congested on the way home, but not quite as bad as when we were going.  I think the M42 rivals the M25 as Britain's busiest road!