The birds

Martyn has cleaned and refilled the feeders, so we’re getting a few visitors.  Mainly long-tailed and blue tits (which reminds me: I need to get the nest boxes down and cleaned).  We hear a lot from the robins, wrens and dunnocks, and see them once in a while.  Martyn saw a small bird picking at one of the roses the other morning, and a spot of research showed it to be a goldcrest, Britain’s smallest bird.  Rather exciting: first time we’ve either of us seen one.  I hope it stays local, and develops a taste for greenfly.  Today we watched some fieldfares systematically stripping the red berries from a neighbour’s shrub.  They tend to come into town when the weather is very cold, so may have done a recce in yesterday’s hard frost.  I was reminded of a few days at my old place up the road when I sat in my study watching the blackbirds stripping the berries from a neighbour’s pyracantha.  

All of which is not exactly a substitute for our local U3A bird watching group outings, which we miss.  Still, the organiser is keeping us informed of his sightings via a Facebook page, though the current restrictions may limit his watching to brief walks in the park for the duration.