Wednesday 1st December 2010

After a cold visit to Hayes Farm on Monday afternoon , which produced very little apart from a pair of Egyptian Geese landing on the almost completely frozen Trout Fishery , yesterday and last night dumped 9''+ of snow , bringing the whole area to gridlock , as the local Council had only treated the main roads , leaving the side roads to very quickly become skid pans .
At least this morning the snow was very light , so I cleared an area by the rockery to put down some birdfood , hoping that the local cats would stay in doors . This was the depth of snow on the birdbath by the rockery , and the path was even deeper . The feeders were draped in the white stuff too , but surprisingly few birds were coming to them . The seed on the path only brought the usual Woodpigeons , their tracks showing in the fresh fall of snow . Eventually a small flock of Chaffinches showed up , and although I could hear Goldfinches and Greenfinches could be heard , they must have had better fare on offer elsewhere . Once again , the Chaffinches were supplementing their diet with the Pyracantha berries .
I've spent most of the day working on photos on the computer , with regular looks out the back window , hoping for another Brambling or even a Waxwing , but neither showed . Looking up at next doors Eucalyptus tree , I did see how Rose Ringed Parakeets deal with this weather , head under wing and dose , hoping it will all be gone when they wake up . The only other visitors spotted were a pair of Collared Doves , really surprising given the conditions .