OVER the festive season I decided I needed a break from eating and making small talk with relatives.

I took a trip up to Burlish Top Nature Reserve, walking from there over the Severn Valley Railway tunnel and then down onto the Rifle Range and Devil's Spittlelful Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

This is a reasonable walk with some steep banks and muddy paths but it was just what I needed.

The peace on these reserves relaxed my mind whilst the fresh air and exercise revitalised my body. It is for this reason that the nature reserves are of such importance to people these days - someone would be a very rich man if he could find a way to bottle all the benefits I felt.

They give you the space and freedom to relax and partake in gentle exercise away from the complications and clutter of modern life.

Another pleasure I take from visiting nature reserves is the chance of seeing some of our local wildlife and I was not disappointed on this particular trip either.

At first, I thought a gust of wind had blown a shower of brown leaves off a silver birch trees, but then what I thought were leaves seemed to dance across the sky and land in another birch tree.

I was intrigued so I approached the tree I had seen them land in and once again a group of around 20 small brown objects, looking not much bigger than leaves, took off from the tree.

This time I was more focused on discovering what was going on and could clearly see that these objects were not leaves but small greenish brown birds. Their rapidly undulating flight was a big clue as this is typical to the finch family.

Their small size was also a clue and this led me to the conclusion that I was probably watching a small flock of siskins foraging on the birch trees of the Rifle Range, for a meal of birch seeds.

Seeing this sight 50 years ago would have been most unusual as siskins were birds associated with the pinewoods of Scotland.

However, the introduction of conifer plantations as part of the forestry industry has provided siskins with an abundance of primarily spruce, but also fir and pine which they like to use for nesting.

Siskins are also slowly beginning to realise the advantages of visiting garden bird feeders. As this habit spreads through the siskin population, more and more are turning up for an easy meal at our generosity.