Snowdrops are out in St Marys Churchyard, Gisburn, look lovely and cheerful, Spring is finally on its way!

Surprise Lunchtime Guest

Sat having lunch watching the birds on the bird table when all suddenly dived for bushes or froze on feeders. Bird of prey landed in hawthorn hedge and then proceeded to try to get at sparrows in hedge, who stayed in the hedge but tried to keep out of its reach, eventually it came out of the hedge bottom and flew off low down the road. I assume its probably a sparrowhawk!

Thaw hopefully set in now. Had some sunshine in the afternoon, so set off for Stocks Reservoir. Beautiful views though the roads a bit difficult in places. Photographed a Kestrel and watched a Buzzard circling over trees near Slaidburn. Got to Stocks and bitterly cold in the wind. The reservoir was all iced over. Retreated to Hark to Bounty.

Monday 11th January

Sleet falling and a bit of a thaw setting in hopefully. Long Tailed Tits are becoming regular visitors to the feeders. Still got Blue Tit with withered leg visiting and now also one with only one leg. On Autumnwatch they said that using fat balls in nets could cause injuries and I wonder if this is whats happened. Putting out fat balls netless in feeders or using the square ones you can put in wire cages. Also had a go at making my own with ground up peanuts and suet, and leaving to set in old foil take away trays. When set I break it in half and put on the bird table or in the feeder. Robins and Woodpecker love it.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

5/01/10

Happy New Year!
What an amazing sight to wake up to this morning. We have had about 6 inches of snow overnight in Gisburn, and its a bit of a shock after the lovely sunny day we had yesterday. The village children are making the most of it, sledging in the fields. Feel sorry for the birds, they are being a lot tamer and coming into the garden to use the feeders so it must be hard for them to find food. We get lots of Blue Tits, some Great Tits and some Coal Tits, a few Chaffinches, Sparrows and Starlings. We have at least three Robins, who all battle although at least two seem to be almost tolerating each other so maybe they are forming a pair. We have a pair of Blackbirds at the front of the house and one pair at the back. They seem to spend a lot of their time trying to chase other birds of all species away ( includung a Woodpecker ). We have had a Blue Tit with a withered leg coming to the feeders since before Christmas, so we are pretty impressed with his resilience. He also looks quite big and is aggressive to other Tits, spreading his wings out and raising the feathers on the back of his head and if they don't get the message attacking them.

Blue Tit with withered leg Jackdaw with rockcake