Winters Bite

Winter Sun through the mist

Sunrise frosty morning on meadows near Portishead

Sorry folks been too busy to blog. Over the past week winter has really started to bite down hard with night frosts lasting well into the day, must be time to get the hip flask out. The early morning frost this morning was very special indeed, yet not many birds around, I was expecting a rush of frenzied feeding on my usual very early morning walk. The Redwings and Fieldfares that were so evident just a few days ago have acted like a plague locusts stripping every berry from the Hawthorn, Holly etc. The bad news for us they are now in the gardens.

Fieldfare

I say this as they have always been my barometer for how the winter will pan out. We have not had them in the garden for a few years, yet having strip the local fields and woodland edge they are here in the garden. For us this is either bad news or good news. If you like your winters cold then your in for a treat this winter. Blue and Great Tit are showing very well now in the garden as is the Blackcap, Greenfinch is back after a year break, with Wren desperately trying to be king pin. Biggest disappointment, especially after they had such a good breeding season, is Blackbird. This after last winter having eleven in the garden during one morning, but now we only have one.

Marsh Tit

Last Saturday I was on BBC Somerset http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/local_radio/doing the weekly news review. One subject I was very keen to get my teeth into, was the fact that Somerset like other areas of UK came out as not having community spirit or no sense of togetherness. Baa, what nonsense. I am so proud to have worked with so many local community's in Somerset, OK this is with a Nature Conservation hat on, and indeed the Community Owls Project (COP) my most recent Community wildlife project, which proves a point that time and time again, people can come together and work towards common goals within their area. I do get quite fed up with the doom and gloom merchants. I suppose if they can talk an economy into recession then they are indeed a powerful force... Yet I will walk out tomorrow with a smile on my face and say hello to everyone I walk past, Why? Simple, this life is not long and sadly you only get one go at it, be happy feel happy, and it will spread, hopefully stopping the gloomy ones from spreading anymore rubbish!

Having this active interest in Wildlife conservation is not just because I want to save animals its because I want to save us. Yes that was a full stop. Thanks for the e mails following the programme and I'm very glad that many of you feel the same way I do, those that did not someone needs to make them feel part of it.

This week I'm out and about checking Owl and Bird Of Prey sites, so I will report back in with how they are fairing during cold snap.   Already Common Buzzards are noted as being very close to roads and easily observed, as is Kestrel, this will be an interesting week...

BFN

PS Coming soon, inside the Hornet nest, which means Dave Newton I need the nest!!