Golden brown

Val explains how a ‘brownfield rainforest’ is helping bees Golden brown

I SPENT a lot of time birdwatching in my early 20s and some of my best sites were far from glamorous. They included a sewage works above Ilmington in Warwickshire, where I could see goldcrests and various finches in the conifer hedge nearby. I used to visit Ham House Power station, ten miles away from Birmingham’s city centre, when it was a working power station. In winter there were always wigeon, teal, shoveler, goosander, gadwall and mallard to be seen on the lake, and the area is now a nature reserve. Ham Hall has welcomed many unusual visitors, including the spoonbill and alpine swift.

Another site at Brandon near Coventry was also superb, although I don’t know whether the bearded tits are still among the reeds. These were untidy, undisturbed places providing habitat and a good supply of food. Some of our best wildlife sites are scruffy or brownfield sites. Often these are earmarked for redevelopment, because people don’t realise what a resource they can be.