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 9th
January, and a very belated Happy New Year. The weather has been mainly dull
and wet with a few brighter patches over the last few days. There has been
very little to report and no photographs until today. We did see a greater
spotted woodpecker on one of the feeders on 6th January but it did not stay
long enough for me to grab a camera.
Today's photo is of a thrush which appeared on the Christmas tree at the
end of the garden, some 60 feet or so away from the study window through
which it was taken. We regularly have visits from thrushes but do not usually
manage to catch an image of one.
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  Sunday, 19th January, and a
beautiful crisp day. This morning as I was at a retreat I was fortunate to
come across in the old grasses and flower stalks of last year, this beautiful
reminder of the new life we are promised. There were several clumps, some
large, like the one pictured, others smaller and occasionally there was a
single flower on its own or with a partner. Wherever they were and however
many they gave a message of hope and brightened up that spot. Also nearby to
remind me of the intricate variety and beauty of nature there were these
leaves outlined with frost crystals.
 Imagine my joy on
returning home to eventually obtain a reasonable photo of one of my
favourite birds, the long tailed tit. I was surprised however just to see
one, they usually fly around and visit the feeders in groups of up to five,
never less than two. This one seemed to be on its own later though on our
Horse Chestnut tree.
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 23rd January and it is a dry
slightly overcast day. Yesterday was wet all day and I was surprised in the
early afternoon to see a couple of moths by the front door. They were
sheltered from the worst of the rain where they were and I suspect that is
why they were there. At first I rather assumed that from their somewhat drab
appearance they were winter moths but upon examining them closer noticed that
there was a definite spot on their wings.  This sent me looking through
the moth book which I purchased late last year and to the UK moth site. The
moths are examples of the Early Moth Theria primaria, the flight
season of which is January and February. They bring with them the promise of
new varieties to be discovered in the months to come.
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  24th January, and a beautiful, bright, sunny
day. Today we joined in the Big Garden Birdwatch and spent an hour just
sitting and observing the birds in our garden. This meant there were several
photo opportunities, hence the pictures of the dunnock to the left, the
nuthatch to the right and the blue tit below. We were delighted at the
nuthatch as this is considered as one of the less common species, however so
are the jays and it was therefore disappointing that they did not appear.
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 Wednesday,
28th January and the snow that has been forecast has arrived. There was a
coating of snow everywhere this morning but the roads were clear by the time
we set out at 9.00am. then gradually throughout the day there was a slight
thaw. However this afternoon at about 4.30pm the snow set in for real and it
is still snowing although not quite the blizzard conditions of earlier. This
weather has caused the runway to be closed at Stansted airport and the road
which runs outside our house has been gridlock since about 5.00pm.
 With this weather the photos
had to include one of a robin on the feeder, very seasonal, and the squirrel
that found this particular feeder very much to his liking! Whilst having my
hair done this morning I missed a marvellous photo opportunity of the green
woodpecker that decided it would peck around on the ground whilst I could see
it and not get at the camera, also the long-tailed tits took this opportunity
to visit the feeder - they really must know when it is inconvenient!!
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 30th
January and having missed placing anything on the website yesterday will
simply mention that the bad weather mentioned on the 28th caused the school
to shut for the day on the 29th. I went along the road to the village car
park with the intention of taking an assembly at the school as I was not
aware that it had shut, although I suspected that it might, the minor roads
locally being like ice rinks. This at least gave me an opportunity to take a
picture of the church in the snow, something that I do not often have.
Today the weather has thawed, although until mid-day some of the roads
were still treacherous.
I feel sure that this will be the last image this month as we are going to
our grandson's 4th birthday tomorrow.
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