It's always a drab time of year in the garden before the spring bulbs kick in but for a brief few days the snow brought everything back to life and at least gave it a sugar-coated beauty instead of letting it limp on to the end of winter in sticks and ugly lumps. The mahonias above sung with radiance; little purpling berries offering birds some morsels of sustenance in lean times.




We did find some interesting prints, which I struggled to identify; these I put down to hedgehog though ideas range wildly from bears, badgers, birds-wings and all sorts of frightening possibilities.







I made it my duty to ensure the birds had fresh water to drink each day and even put some mealworms out in the feeders which proved popular. I just wish there was a way to deter pigeons while retaining smaller birds.The grey flying rats poop in the water and generally hog the good spots. Aside from bargaining with the local sparrowhawk (C spotted this in our tree during the snow, never seen one round here before) I cannot fathom how to politely or otherwise move along our unwelcome visitors.
Take care,
Sophie