Witches' Brooms

Traditionally broomsticks are made from birch twigs but I don’t know if the witches which chased Tam got their brooms from these silver birches as it was once believed. The growths that look a bit like untidy birds’ nests are called Witches’ Brooms and can sometimes be found on silver birch trees.
They are actually caused by a fungus Taphrina Betulina stimulating extra growth in a shoot so that it becomes a massive cluster of shoots looking like a bird’s nest or a traditional witch’s broomstick.
Today there was no sight or sound of any witches but instead the sound of songbirds revelling in the winter sunshine.