Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Snowbound Waterworks Lane

Waterworks Lane feeding station

Reed Bunting in a bush outside the conservatory

Chaffinch resting in the garden after guzzling a load of wheat

Houghton Green Flash - totally devoid of bird life

Goldfinch in the garden

A couple of Jackdaws flitting about in one of the Ash Trees - I like the pattern of the snow-laden branches against the sky

A few dodgy record shots of feeding time at the back of the garden

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I never thought I would see snow like this in Cheshire - it reminds me of Ossy moors when I was a kid. Unfortunately the snow has somewhat disrupted events - it has taken me 2 days to dig the drive out and get mobile again!

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Yesterday I was stuck at home working in the conservatory. All day the garden was teeming with birds - they were everywhere. The morning started with the now usual scold from the resident Fieldfare in the roost with the Blackbirds - I have come to expect the chek chek call when I go out to check on the rabbits. An hour or so after sunrise it was joined by approx 20 other birds and they spent all day foraging on the left lawn. Today it was present for its 20th day, still roosting with the local Blackbirds and chasing allcomers off the berry bush. Around 4 or 5 other birds came in today - again not appearing until an hour or so after dawn.

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As I haven't been able to get near the feeding station, when I scraped off the snow in the garden yesterday and put down some mixed corn, there was an endless stream of Chaffinches, Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and Tree Sparrows. Song and Mistle Thrushes also joined in and three Pheasants. The male Bullfinch was also back and the male Sparrowhawk showed off from a perch in the Silver Birch! It was a grey and gloomy day, however I cannot remember seeing so many birds in the garden - throughout the day I would estimate that hundreds came for food.

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Today was more pleasant in that the sun came out. There were less birds in the garden today but still theusual species. I managd to get to the feeding station and scrape away some snow before putting plenty of seed down - hope everything comes back. HGF was barren - the pool frozen and covered in snow with no birds at all visible. This is going to be one hard winter for the birds!