Take a friend to work day...

Today, I took a walk to recce the Ober Heath walk for the beginning of June, but I was lucky enough to be joined by my very good friend (and amazing photographer), Roz Tucker. She is often stuck in the office Monday to Friday while I am gallivanting around the forest, so it was nice for us both to walk together when the forest is quiet and most are doing what Roz is normally doing on a Monday afternoon.

The beauty of a friend who loves nature as much as me is that we can turn a 5-mile walk into a day trip! Ponies were grazing amongst the damp bogs. So many different and beautiful shades of colours and markings. Some still holding onto their winter coats (I hope they don't know something we don't!)

We both appreciated the smell of pony and took a deep breath as they meandered past, but it wasn't long before we crossed a bridge over a bog. We watched broad-bodied dragonflies flit from the bog myrtle to reeds, but they were too quick to photograph.

Among the heathland views were stonechats shouting from gorse and tending to fledglings, and the reseeded pine was establishing among the heath as it was flowering and producing green pine cones.

In the heat of the day, the heath was quiet apart from the woodlark, who was half-heartedly giving a call, and the sound of a distant cuckoo, but it wasn't long before we turned away from the dusty, dry, and sandy tracks and entered into the shade of the woodland. The sweet scent had switched from the myrtle of the heaths to the pine resin in the trees.

Passing over a stream, Roz noticed the lily pads among the gentle motion of trickling water, so we wandered along the bank, and before too long, we were both lying on our bellies watching the wildlife of this gentle brook. We watched beautiful demoiselles dance across the pads and insects skate across the surface of the water. Lily flowers bobbed in the water, ready to imminently burst into bloom. We lost ourselves for a while in the world of daisies, speedwell, and life in the forest brook, as willow blossom rode the gentle flow and the trees above reflected in the water.

Heading into Fletcher's Thorns Inclosure, we were stunned by the abundance of bluebells that remained amongst the verdant and silent woodland.

Before heading towards the home run of Ober Heath, Roz and I allowed the landscape to wow us all the way. This was when we came across our first humans along this walk, as the wilds meet the campsite at Aldridge Hill. The Ober Water was still and reflective, as were the trees, until I tuned in to the unmistakable sound of a Greater Woodpecker nest. Huddled like a couple of excited children, we camouflaged ourselves under the canopy of the trees not to cause alarm and to catch a glimpse (and a photo) of a calling chick in a tree hole.

A perfect end to a magical walk. Thanks, Roz, for the amazing photos and even better company. A perfect day to be out of your office and come into mine.