It was such a novelty to have so much snow that I had to take lots of pictures to commit the scenes to memory. It's so strange how we have unbelievably diverse weather in the UK. Well, all over the UK it's different, so that's even more curious. From carpeted in six to eight inches of snow in the winter to sizzling in over thirty degree heat in summer, we have it all. 




















Things have changed so much in the three weeks since these shots were taken; it's another world entirely by now.

 

Pic BBC VIA https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/12/doctor-cosplay-dress-like-missy

I held a coaster. C mocked me. 

 

We all know that I hate winter. It's a season which I dread and every year I spend a long time moaning about everything horrible it brings. Well, of course that still stands, but dare I say it; the winter we're emerging from has been the least awful in my adult years. Yes, it's been muddy and cold with so much doom and gloom, but there's been an interesting variety of weather. The fact that I've been working from home with only a few necessary work things to leave the house for has been such a benefit. Driving country lanes in the dark and poor conditions was a real worry, especially in threats of snow, heavy rain, fog or ice. So not only have I not had the anxiety of the roads, I've not had the time and energy doing the driving either. On top of that, we've been able to walk. Most of the weekdays it's been a walk in the dark but at least it was a stretch of the legs and just time in the open air. For the last couple of weeks it's been light/dingy which has been very exciting. It won't be long before it will be light for even longer then in a month the clocks change for the better. 

 

On Sunday we took part in the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch. Over the last three or four years our garden has undergone plenty of changes, most of which have been of benefits to our avian friends. Most significantly to us, the two enormous coniferous trees that threatened to one day fall and smash through the house have gone. (phew) They were a worry. Of course, you might think that would be a detriment to the space but having released a large amount of tree footprint from the shadows we now have a useable amount of space instead. There we have installed a pond, shrubs, perennial and annual flowers and a bird bath. The coniferous hedge along the back has maintained feeding and perching continuity. 

Secondly, there are a lot of bird boxes in place here and there of varying shapes and sizes. Plus we have three separate feeding stations of hanging feeders each with a mix of different foods and water. The stations are located in the open, under a tree and by the hedge to attract different birds. 

The birdwatch is an hour of keeping a note of the maximum number of each species that lands in your garden at any one time. Our feeders are usually kept fairly full and there's often a lot of birds to see so we were hopeful that our count would reflect our garden's popularity with the local birds.

Well, you can guess what I'm about to say. A lot of minutes of tumbleweed in our empty garden. It is baffling that as soon as you want to see anything then somehow they all stay away. The weather was fine, it was a sensible time of day, nothing raucous going on to scare them.... I was a bit annoyed again.

Our final tally doesn't sound too bad but there was not much action to show for an hour of observation.

1 Goldfinch

2 Pigeons (there's usually bloody loads, all making a noise and trying to get fruity in the branches)

2 Blackbirds (again, usually plenty, these birds are the tame ones round here and hang out for worms while we do the gardening instead of robins)

3 Great tits

2 Robins

3 Blue tits

3 Dunnocks

and a magpie that flew over but we can't count. 

I did anticipate seeing a starling, chaffinch, collared doves, crow (they ruin the feeders by their heavy landings and brutal peckings, I try to shoo them off).

Pictures of birds from yesterday when of course they all decide to hang about. Up the top, goldfinch enjoying the conifer seeds. On the bird bath, the song thrush.

We do get mostly blue tits and great tits nesting in our boxes, We know that blackbirds like our hedge and are fairly happy to be in close proximity to us. Last year sparrows nested in a box at the front and a few years ago a chaffinch family nested in the red robin bush. 

Let's see what this spring brings!

Take care,

Sophie