An eerie light filled pittswood last night as more heavy snow fell.
By morning 10 inches of dry powder snow lay, so the first job of the day, just before the birds came in to feed, was too dig a clearing for them, which resembled a pit by the time I had finished :-)Most of the day was spent at the window again, observing the comings and goings of the local birds, much the same birds visited as yesterday ( see that list) but five new species came in today, one was the COAL TIT (28) good to see it back again, another was a GOLDCREST (29) a WREN (30) also visited but probably the best was a superb male BULLFINCH (31) it's deep pink breast looking stunning against the snowy back drop, and a lovely looking SONGTHRUSH (32), this is only the third month this year that this species has been recorded in my garden. The monthly garden species total has already reached 25, better than all other December totals except last years, and i'm only 2 days into December!
I did venture out today, but only got as far as the Tree Nursery and Greenhouse Complex, as the snow was so deep it just kept filling my wellies up! I decided to have a skywatch, as very little was in the snow covered vegetation, just a few GOLDFINCH, another Bullfinch, some DUNNOCKS and a Wren.
I only stayed half an hour, as the wellies were useless at keeping my feet from freezing, wont wear them out again! Some good sightings were had though, 4 SKYLARKS (33), 2 GREYLAG GEESE (34), 2 CANADA GEESE (35) 3 LAPWING, a KESTREL (36), 4 PHEASANTS (37) plus both COMMON GULL (38) and HERRING GULL (39), but the real bonus birds were the 3 COMMON SNIPE (40) that went over, a pair calling and a single. Later whilst back at home another Snipe went over, 4 for the day! This is just the second recorded from my house, that really is something, as i'm normally doing well if a get 4 a year!
With most of the snow now fallen, we can expect a slow thaw, flooding and freezing fog over the next few days :-) Hopefully though I should be out for a full patch walk on Saturday.
A took a few ''through the window' photo's today and so they are of dubious quality :-)
Above the SongthrushBelow, some of the 13 COLLARED DOVES that visited the feeders
Below is a view over the garden, looking towards the Wet Woods in the distance
below is my snowy garden
Below is a view over the garden, looking towards the Wet Woods in the distance
13 comments:
That first shot is neat, eerie like you said...again I wish I had more variety at the feeders here as you do...but just get juncos, house finches, house sparrows w/ rare visits from others. Anyway, 10 inches of snow, ARG! Here we've got over five more months of winter weather to muddle thru.
Don`t know how many times i`ve cleared my feeding station over the last 2 days.
Getting fed up with all this white stuff now and there`s no chance of a slow thaw here, not with temps of minus 10 forecast for tonight.
Still none of that white stuff here. Are your wellies steel toe capped - cos they can be fierrcly cold on the tootsies!
stay warm
Cheers
Davo
Very atmospheric, was that your little house on the praire and where did the orange glow come from.
Derek,
No its not my house, its the stables opposite my house ( much grander than my humble abode )
I think it must be the far off lights from tonbridge, reflecting off the dense cloud cover, and causing the strange light ?
Blimey, they have posh stables round your way, the horses on Sheppey don't even get a stable, let along electric light in them.
Bullfinch in the garden Warren....the stuff of dreams mate!
We don't have any snow, we must be the only ones. Your pictures are amazing, especially the first, that picture of last night is eerie.
Eerie was definitely the word for the light in the first photo Warren.
Well, you made a valiant effort today but it sounds like you needed waders rather than wellies!
Some very nice garden visitors again, Song Thrushes seem to have become few and far between here too and not helped by the darned neighbourhood cats :(
Still not much snow here but bitterly cold.
Hi Warren
Another very satifactory garden watch. You had some terrific birds in your garden, Song Thrush, and Bullfinch being two of them. Your total is coming along well. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Good luck.
Ten inches of snow! That's quite unusual for you isn't it? It's beautiful. We're supposed to get some this weekend, but I doubt it will be 10 inches. The first photo is striking...and erie! Thank goodness for garden birds (and they always look prettier in the snow).
I thought we had some eerie lighting the other day, but yours is definitely even more eerie!
Great additions to the month list, especially considering the weather! I guess if nothing else the snow drives all the birds to your feeders. 25 is very impressive!
Well i did not have to take the snow out of the car for a year now Warren ;-) Just some frost, it was quite cold this morning (-9°C), but still no snow... You have already seen 40 species... I've seen only 15 for December ;-)
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