Sleet? snow? biting wind? Plummeting temperatures and dark, dark dark - I didn't fancy a wander in the wilds today, which is just as well, because 5 Bramblings turned up at Dempsey Towers to stuff their faces with sunflower hearts.
We do get Bramblings here in the garden each year - usually one or two though, and never before February, so the arrival of these critters was neat, although probably a sign that they're travelling ahead of some mean, mean weather.
True, digiscoping through a window makes for considerably ropier images, but you stay a lot more comfortable, and the coffee is better indoors.
Plenty of the more regular finches, Song Thrush, titmice and the rest of the usual suspects dropping in too...time to get more seed in.
Having a bath in the brutal windchill was ill-advised even by Starling standards - I expect to find this one frozen to a branch tomorrow.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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240 Tufted Duck on Sands Lake, Ainsdale, this afternoon
God rest ye chilly gentle Wren!
The recently launched British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Roosting Survey is already yielding exciting results. Householders across the UK are watching hundreds of birds come in to roost in their gardens during the freezing weather, with the tiny Wren scrumming down in the greatest numbers.
Harsh weather presents a substantial problem for small birds striving to survive the long winter nights. Few
come smaller than the Wren but householders appear to be providing them a lifeline through a network of cosy bedrooms. Results just in from the BTOâÂÂs Roosting Survey show that Wrens are piling into nest boxes, bespoke
roosting pouches and even old House Martin nests to stay warm overnight, with most (26%) roosting in groups
of 5âÂÂ9 individuals and, in one nest box in snowy Devon, 30âÂÂ34 individuals recorded snoozing together.
The most frequent roosting visitor is the Blue Tit but this feisty acrobat usually sleeps alone, with most records
(63%) being of solitary individuals. Similarly, Great Tits have tended to bed down alone. The familiar House
Sparrow has, however, been its usual gregarious self, with few (8%) opting to go solo, most (42%) roosting
with at least four others and, in one instance in West Sussex, ten individuals roosting together.
The survey is also revealing a great diversity of roosting birds in our gardens. Perhaps the most unusual visitor is the Treecreeper which has made a single appearance, although a Dunnock spending the night in a roosting pouch in South Humberside has been a turn up for the books. Squeezing more than one Robin in a nest box
seems unlikely given their fierce territoriality, but two snuggled up together in Greater London earlier this
month.
The BTO Roosting Survey runs throughout the 2010-11 winter, and it is great fun to take part. For more
information, go to www.bto.org/gbw.