Speckles in the Snow

A fine sight outside the window this morning. The Mistle Thrush tempted close for the free food and happy to pose to the right

to the left

and straight ahead

Back to White

The snow was back today

with a vengence

The sticky kind of snow

Bird activity around the feeders was frantic

Tree decorations

The Old Ash Tree

is, of course, the last to come into leaf. It sighs reluctantly and manages to unfurl some leaf buds when all other trees are weeks into leaf.

So these are not leaves decorating its branches

filling every twig

but swarms of starlings

waiting for bedtime.

Then they are off

Maybe to here

A starling roost at Dolydd Hafren filmed by Edd Cottell and posted on Montgomeryshire Birds where he says:

“Here is a short video of the Starlings descending onto the reed bed in front of the first hide. Just watch how far the reeds get pushed down under the weight of all the birds. I counted 4 different Sparrowhawks constantly hunting the Starlings as they filter into the reed. Also seen were 2 Little Egret and 20 Curlew.”

Bright White

It was a cold night but as the new day arrived the sun started raising our spirits

Snow and sun provide an irresistible combination

add in ice…

Any sunshine when it is cold and the hens turn into little solar panels

Away from the main flock we have eventually managed to create a pure Speckled Sussex group

Watched over by Hubble who’s tricky start can be seen here (although it seems he was presumed female in those days)

The sun shines on

We had the top of these Eucalyptus thinned out in the spring. They keep their leaves through the winter giving resistance to storms

The sun shines through the birch bark

and on to two inscrutables

A Couple of Inches

After yesterday’s bare covering we woke up today to a good couple of inches of snow. Not a lot, but it felt like real snow.

It was enough to prevent the blackbirds foraging in the leaf litter. We had to give them a non stop supply of apples

Lack of foraging was also the hens’ main concern

Bert doesn’t mind cold and is happy as long as he gets his two meals a day

The bees generate their own heat in here – we hope

One thing snow provides is a temporary record of all animal movement . Here two birds have met for a chat

While these two birds aren’t going anywhere

Some other snowy moments from today

A Touch of Whiteness

We woke up to a light covering of snow

about this much

and a little overnight ice

Just enough to accentuate some crannies

Jessie

ignored her squirrel hunting duties

and had a good roll

The ducks took it in their stride

Colour was still to be found in Camellias

Helibore

and Cyclamon

while all around there was thrusting promise of colour to come

The outline here shows our patch

(this picture taken before we arrived – that bottom field now includes lake, pigs, hens, ducks and meadow)

But – you can see how our little patch of tree cover is a bit of an oasis amidst mono cultural sheep-razed grass. No wonder we are awash with birds…

This Tit doesn’t realise it has the chance for a solo performance on one of our wildlife video cameras

and we continue to enjoy the sweet song of the Starlings

Our night time owls are hard to photograph so here are some indoor ones

Getting Our Bearings (Eventually)

At an altitude of nearly 1000 feet Gribin Isaf has an interrupted prospect for just about 180 degrees from East, through North, to West

Often there is nothing much to see

but on the odd occasion that the cloud lifts

forms and shapes are revealed

Sometimes it seems as if a theatrical spotlight is picking out bits for our attention, be it white in the distance

or golden patches closer to home

The morning light illuminates the North-West

and the evening light

provides silhouettes

and hazy outlines

Sometimes the mountain skyline rises above the mists

as if both it and us are above the lowland world

Most days we are caught still and have to stare

So when last month we admitted to this

we were rightly chastened by a friend who wrote this

It is quite hard to get an overview of such a wide area. It was back to the trusty OS

So we are measuring

and plotting

Tabulating

and digitising

And soon, with any luck, we will be able to install something like this

Oh, The Rains Came Down…

…and the floods came up

Sheep have to stand and take it

sheep dog has other ideas

Waters rising…

Fortunately our house is built upon the rock.

Ah, sunshine

The deal is either wet, mild and cloudy or cold and bright. So the last few days of cold and cloudy were not part of the deal.

So when the skies cleared

and the sun shone

today (before it goes back to milder, wetter – and cloudy next week)

we wanted to join Mrs

and Mr

Blackbird in their busy optimism.

Or oh to be a Wren

to whom one compost heap provides infinite happiness.

The Yellow Rose of Gribin shone bright

and the sun gave us Alpine-like vistas

so as the sun went down

and provided a rose-tinted view of life

we say, with the Blackbird

we have survived another day.