BLACKCAP AND BIRMINGHAM, TREES AND GARDEN

I forgot to mention we had a Blackcap in the garden yesterday afternoon, there are a few that overwinter mainly in the south but my guess is that some may have stayed on in the north attracted by the mild weather and continued food supplies. Mandy did what I told her not to and managed to struggle out with the two Christmas trees which she moved on her own, I've now planted them at the side by the garden shed.

As promised it was Birmingham which took centre stage this morning, I had a really free running trip down and managed to get there at the end of the morning rusah, services did reduce greatly but that still means that there are masses of buses around. With the latest models arriving soon after my 2015 visit there were plenty I'd not filmed before other than those spotted in Walsall or further afield. Anyway it worked out very well and the light was quite acceptable and hovered on bright but not sunny just right for winter photography. In the end I got well over our customary hour of coverage and I must say I was impressed to see that the tramway is nearly complete down to the railway station, it has a temporary terminus at present on Bull St. I wouldn't think it going to be long before the whole line is open, masses of last minute stuff like tram stops, kerbs etc being attended to.

I'll be doing a round up of most of our British trams in maturity and new as the weather gets a bit better and allows me to get decent shots even in open areas between street running sections. I can't say the pink and off white does much for the West Midland line but the trams look the business rather than the tiny jobs they had at first attempt. No hassle filming although it is swarming with the caste of the Syrian war, lots of pleasant waves from the bus drivers,  it isn't what it was though and you can feel a slight chill in the atmosphere.

Tomorrow my car is in for a service, if the weather is suitable I might drop it off mid morning and carry on into Manchester on the bus and get a trio of main bus centres in one week. Then it will be looking for sunshine days and trucks. I wonder if we will get cold weather and even snow, it looks remote as present, Birmingham was 10C.