Miserable day, very mild but showers throughout the day.
Another day working in the art studio. All woodwork now sanded and cleaned ready for the next stage which is the painting.
No interest in the bed so pulled apart now, will use the timber on other projects with the mattress heading for the tip.
Being indoors most of the day I have nothing to report on garden wildlife.
Blog in fact will be lacking anything meaningful for a few days now due to hospital appointments.
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Monday, 30 January 2017
Monday 30th January 2017
Very mild but miserably overcast all day.
Another day spent working on the art studio. All mouldings glued in place and caulked where necessary. Sand down tomorrow then room ready for Lorna to paint.
Did the RSPB bird count today, pretty good result. Noticeable, no sparrows this year but increase in blackbirds and dunnocks.
All the usual birds out today including thankfully the two pied wagtails.
Pair of robins mating for sure now, witnessed the mating dance today. Can't tell at the moment how many blackbirds are mating as unsure what is fighting or mating?
Another day spent working on the art studio. All mouldings glued in place and caulked where necessary. Sand down tomorrow then room ready for Lorna to paint.
Did the RSPB bird count today, pretty good result. Noticeable, no sparrows this year but increase in blackbirds and dunnocks.
All the usual birds out today including thankfully the two pied wagtails.
Pair of robins mating for sure now, witnessed the mating dance today. Can't tell at the moment how many blackbirds are mating as unsure what is fighting or mating?
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Sunday 29th January 2017
Very mild but sadly a day spoilt by showers. Garden looking pretty mucky.
Another day working on the art studio. Wall units now fixed and doors fitted. Tomorrow will be the finishing touches, mouldings to scribe and fix and screw holes to fill ready for painting.
Have a single pine bed to shift now so may have a go at using Gumtree, EBay have blocked me so fingers crossed for Gumtree?
Checked out the trail cameras tonight and only what I would normally expect showing up. Fox out both nights with early morning images of the squirrel and the dozens of blackbirds.
Another day working on the art studio. Wall units now fixed and doors fitted. Tomorrow will be the finishing touches, mouldings to scribe and fix and screw holes to fill ready for painting.
Have a single pine bed to shift now so may have a go at using Gumtree, EBay have blocked me so fingers crossed for Gumtree?
Checked out the trail cameras tonight and only what I would normally expect showing up. Fox out both nights with early morning images of the squirrel and the dozens of blackbirds.
Saturday 28th January 2017
A lot milder today but sadly rather overcast.
Day spent working on the art studio. Drawer bench unit now in place and bearers screwed on the wall to take two wall units. For the bench I used a 17" white plastic facia board left over from when the observatory was built. The drawers are from Lorna's original desk from the seventies. So far only cost involved was for the two wall units. Will fit these up tomorrow.
Due to my working all day I did not have a chance to check out any wildlife. Going by the amount of food eaten I would say there were a few number of birds about.
Day spent working on the art studio. Drawer bench unit now in place and bearers screwed on the wall to take two wall units. For the bench I used a 17" white plastic facia board left over from when the observatory was built. The drawers are from Lorna's original desk from the seventies. So far only cost involved was for the two wall units. Will fit these up tomorrow.
Due to my working all day I did not have a chance to check out any wildlife. Going by the amount of food eaten I would say there were a few number of birds about.
Friday, 27 January 2017
Friday 27th January 2017t
A very hard overnight frost with the day cold with a little sun. Turned a lot milder tonight however.
An interesting meeting this morning at the community centre re discussion on what we can achieve I organising walks and events during the year. Lots to think about before final decision. For my part I have agreed to write an article for the Spring edition of Whitley News and to meet with a local School re pond dipping at Fobney.
This afternoon I worked on the wildlife book and as I thought have overdone it and have used up all my space. Not sure what to do now? I do not have a plan B.
Tomorrow I will start work on the studio so the book will take a back seat now for a while.
An interesting meeting this morning at the community centre re discussion on what we can achieve I organising walks and events during the year. Lots to think about before final decision. For my part I have agreed to write an article for the Spring edition of Whitley News and to meet with a local School re pond dipping at Fobney.
This afternoon I worked on the wildlife book and as I thought have overdone it and have used up all my space. Not sure what to do now? I do not have a plan B.
Tomorrow I will start work on the studio so the book will take a back seat now for a while.
Thursday 26th January 2017
Another very cold day, mostly overcast.
Day spent working on the wildlife book, getting scary as nearly at 100 pages with so much more to include. One hundred pages is the maximum I can use in this format.
Will have another session tomorrow then a break while I work on the art studio.
Busy day for birds again dominated mostly by the blackbirds. It is noticeable that since the takeover from the blackbirds there have been a lot fewer ground feeding birds around. Dunnocks are the exception and mix with the blackbirds very well.
The squirrels do not attempt to raid the feeders and again noticeable they spend more time at the bottom end of the garden, are they really scared of blackbirds?
Enjoyed an evening at Sonning Golf Club with Nigel and Lyn. Plans for this years birthday celebrations moving on nicely. Roll on August/September.
Day spent working on the wildlife book, getting scary as nearly at 100 pages with so much more to include. One hundred pages is the maximum I can use in this format.
Will have another session tomorrow then a break while I work on the art studio.
Busy day for birds again dominated mostly by the blackbirds. It is noticeable that since the takeover from the blackbirds there have been a lot fewer ground feeding birds around. Dunnocks are the exception and mix with the blackbirds very well.
The squirrels do not attempt to raid the feeders and again noticeable they spend more time at the bottom end of the garden, are they really scared of blackbirds?
Enjoyed an evening at Sonning Golf Club with Nigel and Lyn. Plans for this years birthday celebrations moving on nicely. Roll on August/September.
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Wednesday 25th January 2017
Very foggy morning not clearing until lunchtime. Cold, dull day. Not my type of day.
Despite the fog I enjoyed a dawn walk at Fobney. No sign of wildlife, not a thing. Pretty atmospheric conditions.
This morning was a shopping trip to B&Q for wall units to fit in Lorna's new art studio. My word I am weak now, had a job to lift these units and I have the job of fixing them to the wall. Some wooden scaffolding required I think?
Worked on the wildlife book this afternoon, trail camera and projects was the goal today. Took some sorting as so many TC images.
Tomorrow will look at a section which I will title 'Not all good in the garden'.
All the usual birds in the garden but sad news on a dunnock I believe. Shaking continuously and so puffed up. All the other dunnocks were normal size.
Despite the fog I enjoyed a dawn walk at Fobney. No sign of wildlife, not a thing. Pretty atmospheric conditions.
This morning was a shopping trip to B&Q for wall units to fit in Lorna's new art studio. My word I am weak now, had a job to lift these units and I have the job of fixing them to the wall. Some wooden scaffolding required I think?
Worked on the wildlife book this afternoon, trail camera and projects was the goal today. Took some sorting as so many TC images.
Tomorrow will look at a section which I will title 'Not all good in the garden'.
All the usual birds in the garden but sad news on a dunnock I believe. Shaking continuously and so puffed up. All the other dunnocks were normal size.
Tuesday, 24 January 2017
Tuesday 24th January 2017
A hard overnight frost and another cold and sunny day.
Unsettled morning due to a suspected gas leak, SGN arrived in twenty minutes and very quickly had the situation under control.
Worked on the wildlife book this afternoon. Am surprised at the number of bugs, insects etc I managed to photograph last year. Tomorrow hope to start on trail camera images, only so many images of foxes and hedgehogs can be used for the book so the selection process will be difficult.
Today the garden was dominated by blackbirds, just so many. Even the starlings are being bullied now.
Robins appear to be pairing up now, managed a photograph of the pair this afternoon.
Tomorrow I will be making a start on Lorna's art studio, first step B&Q for a couple of single wall cupboards.
Unsettled morning due to a suspected gas leak, SGN arrived in twenty minutes and very quickly had the situation under control.
Worked on the wildlife book this afternoon. Am surprised at the number of bugs, insects etc I managed to photograph last year. Tomorrow hope to start on trail camera images, only so many images of foxes and hedgehogs can be used for the book so the selection process will be difficult.
Today the garden was dominated by blackbirds, just so many. Even the starlings are being bullied now.
Robins appear to be pairing up now, managed a photograph of the pair this afternoon.
Tomorrow I will be making a start on Lorna's art studio, first step B&Q for a couple of single wall cupboards.
Monday, 23 January 2017
Monday 23rd January 2017
Another hard overnight frost but leaving us with a beautiful day. Cold and sunny all day with a staggering good purple sunset.
Yesterday I mentioned issues with the History book, taken most of the day but basically I had to re-do the headings, captions and texts. My fault entirely but Photobox helped me big time with just charging me carriage for a re-print. Somewhat of a relief.
I had not changed the colouring of the lettering, it was there but black on black does not show up that well, oh well.
Have mentioned it before, I have never seen so many blackbirds in the garden. A video image from early this morning shows eleven blackbirds all feeding together.
I am mixing my own bird food now so perhaps that is the reason?
Foxy out on its own again with the trail camera showing some daytime images. All good but will be pleased when I can spend more time outside.
Enjoyed an afternoon walk on the Fobney Reserve, not much in the way of wildlife, probably because the Lakes are frozen. Was good to see a pair of swans again, clearly paired up again after last years terrible incident.
The sunset was amazing tonight, all purple and red.
Yesterday I mentioned issues with the History book, taken most of the day but basically I had to re-do the headings, captions and texts. My fault entirely but Photobox helped me big time with just charging me carriage for a re-print. Somewhat of a relief.
I had not changed the colouring of the lettering, it was there but black on black does not show up that well, oh well.
Have mentioned it before, I have never seen so many blackbirds in the garden. A video image from early this morning shows eleven blackbirds all feeding together.
I am mixing my own bird food now so perhaps that is the reason?
Foxy out on its own again with the trail camera showing some daytime images. All good but will be pleased when I can spend more time outside.
Enjoyed an afternoon walk on the Fobney Reserve, not much in the way of wildlife, probably because the Lakes are frozen. Was good to see a pair of swans again, clearly paired up again after last years terrible incident.
The sunset was amazing tonight, all purple and red.
Sunday, 22 January 2017
Sunday 22nd January 2017
Another hard frost with the day again very cold and sunny. Love these types of days.
Today managed to fix back up all of the pictures, a struggle as just can't cope with ladders these days.
All looks good, well worth the upheaval.
As you can imagine we have just loads of birds in the garden at the moment, feeding stations never been so busy. With the ground so frozen it is virtually impossible to extract wormses from the garden or lawn.
Redwing and song thrush not reappeared so pleased I spotted when I did on the trail camera footage.
Foxy was out last night, last few nights it has only been the one so not sure now if they were a pair.
My history book arrived today and what a disappointment. All headings, captions and texts are missing despite showing clearly on the draft. Being sorted so should receive reprints early next week.
Today managed to fix back up all of the pictures, a struggle as just can't cope with ladders these days.
All looks good, well worth the upheaval.
As you can imagine we have just loads of birds in the garden at the moment, feeding stations never been so busy. With the ground so frozen it is virtually impossible to extract wormses from the garden or lawn.
Redwing and song thrush not reappeared so pleased I spotted when I did on the trail camera footage.
Foxy was out last night, last few nights it has only been the one so not sure now if they were a pair.
My history book arrived today and what a disappointment. All headings, captions and texts are missing despite showing clearly on the draft. Being sorted so should receive reprints early next week.
Saturday 21st January 2017
Very hard frost again, frost on frost now. Looks like snow. Day very sunny and of course cold.
Today was all about re-fixing all the pictures back up in the hallway, landing and stairs but no, not the day I had planned.
One neighbour rang this morning asking if I could go over and witness a signature. Not seen since Christmas so of a bit of a catch up over a cuppa.
This afternoon a ring on the doorbell, another neighbour but rather distressed. Long story but basically two cars broken down with hubby stuck in Mattingly wanting a lift back home.
Pleased to have helped of course.
Tonight enjoyed a good meal and a few pints of home made brew at Neil and Sarah. Some good news was shared with us, Sarah is expecting with baby due in July. Great news that.
Nothing else to report as did not have a chance to check out wildlife today.
Friday, 20 January 2017
Friday 20th January 2017
Very hard overnight frost but day was beautiful, sunny all day with good sunrise and sunset.
Day spent fixing back up the floor to ceiling mirror on the landing and also five pictures. Hopefully will finish tomorrow.
Another good day for large numbers of ground feeding birds including waggy. Great video image of foxy removing bacofoil from a joint. I purposely tightly wrapped up the joint to see how he managed. Did not expect what he actually did. Hopefully I will be able to post the clip.
Enjoyed an evening walk at the reserve taking in the delights of a stunning sunset.
Day spent fixing back up the floor to ceiling mirror on the landing and also five pictures. Hopefully will finish tomorrow.
Another good day for large numbers of ground feeding birds including waggy. Great video image of foxy removing bacofoil from a joint. I purposely tightly wrapped up the joint to see how he managed. Did not expect what he actually did. Hopefully I will be able to post the clip.
Enjoyed an evening walk at the reserve taking in the delights of a stunning sunset.
Thursday 19th January 2017
Very hard overnight frost, in fact did not clear all day. A very cold day.
Day spent working on the Garden Wildlife book. Today worked on the Dragonfly and Damselfly images. Some good images to process.
Bugs and insects next but must be patient for a while as must now fix back all the pictures on the landing and in the hallway. Decorators finished late this afternoon, been a long job as did not expect so much plastering to be carried out.
Day spent working on the Garden Wildlife book. Today worked on the Dragonfly and Damselfly images. Some good images to process.
Bugs and insects next but must be patient for a while as must now fix back all the pictures on the landing and in the hallway. Decorators finished late this afternoon, been a long job as did not expect so much plastering to be carried out.
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Wednesday 18th January 2017
A very cold and frosty day. Very picturesque though.
Another day spent in front of the computer working on the Wildlife book. Over 200 bird photographs selected today, need to get this down to a more realistic number of say 100 images.
Would like to caption each image in this book but am already struggling with some bird images.
A long term project this I think.
Another good day for bird life. No specials but still good to see my regulars. All birds are loving the new ground feeder and my special home made food. Have given up with the cage so all birds can share.
Decorators will finish tomorrow, been a long job but worth it. This weekend I plan to fix back all the photographs and large mirror then I can start work on Lorna's studio. The middle bedroom is being stripped of furniture for this purpose. Means Lorna can work in the studio all year.
The current studio in the garden will be made into a museum. A project I have always wanted to achieve.
Another day spent in front of the computer working on the Wildlife book. Over 200 bird photographs selected today, need to get this down to a more realistic number of say 100 images.
Would like to caption each image in this book but am already struggling with some bird images.
A long term project this I think.
Another good day for bird life. No specials but still good to see my regulars. All birds are loving the new ground feeder and my special home made food. Have given up with the cage so all birds can share.
Decorators will finish tomorrow, been a long job but worth it. This weekend I plan to fix back all the photographs and large mirror then I can start work on Lorna's studio. The middle bedroom is being stripped of furniture for this purpose. Means Lorna can work in the studio all year.
The current studio in the garden will be made into a museum. A project I have always wanted to achieve.
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Tuesday 17th January 2017
What a difference a day makes. Brilliant day, sunny most of the day with a stunning sunrise and sunset.
Day spent out with Nick and Yvonne, driving around the Chilterns in their 100% electric Teslar car. What a brute of a car, mad technology. Hard to believe actually but all this eco friendly technology comes at one heck of a price. £10000 for a car, not for me but hood to experience. Finished the day with a meal at the King William, Ipsden. Good food & drink, last visited in 1972 when it was a bikers pub.
Decorating moving along slowly, on track to finish late tomorrow. Will be good to get the house back again. Next job will be refixing all the pictures/photographs on the landing and hall.
No wildlife news today.
Day spent out with Nick and Yvonne, driving around the Chilterns in their 100% electric Teslar car. What a brute of a car, mad technology. Hard to believe actually but all this eco friendly technology comes at one heck of a price. £10000 for a car, not for me but hood to experience. Finished the day with a meal at the King William, Ipsden. Good food & drink, last visited in 1972 when it was a bikers pub.
Decorating moving along slowly, on track to finish late tomorrow. Will be good to get the house back again. Next job will be refixing all the pictures/photographs on the landing and hall.
No wildlife news today.
Monday, 16 January 2017
Monday 16th January 2017
Mildish but pretty wet all day. A day for indoors.
Day in front of the desk top making a start on the 2016 Garden Wildlife book. Surprised at what was seen last year, instances I had forgotten. Will be a good record once compiled. Will have a section in this book on trail camera images.
Despite the wet weather there was still a huge presence of assorted birds. Wagtails, goldfinches, dunnocks, green & chaffinches, blackbirds, long tailed tits, jays, starlings, doves, pigeons, blue & great tits, wren and a female great spotted.
Plaster now dry on the landing meaning decorator back so hopefully will finish this week now.
Day in front of the desk top making a start on the 2016 Garden Wildlife book. Surprised at what was seen last year, instances I had forgotten. Will be a good record once compiled. Will have a section in this book on trail camera images.
Despite the wet weather there was still a huge presence of assorted birds. Wagtails, goldfinches, dunnocks, green & chaffinches, blackbirds, long tailed tits, jays, starlings, doves, pigeons, blue & great tits, wren and a female great spotted.
Plaster now dry on the landing meaning decorator back so hopefully will finish this week now.
Sunday, 15 January 2017
Friday, 13 January 2017
Friday 13th January 2017
Very cold day but at least dry.
Am officially fed up with this chest infection now, by all accounts I'm not the only one suffering.
Spent the day working on the history book. Made a good start on the captions of 510 photographs. Hopefully will finish this tomorrow.
Managed a photograph of the male & female pied wagtail again. This really is exciting news, regular birds now. Have mentioned before but am worried now on the fighting of all these blackbirds. One was flattened today, did regain its composure after a couple of minutes but was clearly winded.
On checking out 1300 trail cam images tonight I was somewhat excited at the sight of a Redwing and a Fieldfare. Not 100% sure of course, will post images in due course for an experts opinion. Posted on twitter tonight and no one disagreed, I wonder?
In for a messy day tomorrow with plasterers returning to skim top coat the landing.
Am officially fed up with this chest infection now, by all accounts I'm not the only one suffering.
Spent the day working on the history book. Made a good start on the captions of 510 photographs. Hopefully will finish this tomorrow.
Managed a photograph of the male & female pied wagtail again. This really is exciting news, regular birds now. Have mentioned before but am worried now on the fighting of all these blackbirds. One was flattened today, did regain its composure after a couple of minutes but was clearly winded.
On checking out 1300 trail cam images tonight I was somewhat excited at the sight of a Redwing and a Fieldfare. Not 100% sure of course, will post images in due course for an experts opinion. Posted on twitter tonight and no one disagreed, I wonder?
In for a messy day tomorrow with plasterers returning to skim top coat the landing.
Thursday, 12 January 2017
Thursday 12th January 2017
Outside early this morning to fix the remaining fence to the new. Sorted and looks good but by heck hate the clinical look. Must get some climbers planted bug must be bee/butterfly friendly and suitable for shady areas. Not sure what yet?
Loving the pied wagtails, would be good to see them breed in the garden. The two jays also very active today. From the hide noticed a great tit roosting tonight, clearly not liking the sleet.
This afternoon I had another attempt at at the history book. All photographs now in place, next job is to text each image. With nearly 100 images this will take a while.
Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Wednesday 11th January 2017
A much better day. Mild and sunny most of the day. Tomorrow could be a different picture however. Snow forecast.
Day spent in the garden mostly tidying up after the fencers. A little bit of work required to refix old panel to the new.
The huge holes dug to remove the concrete spurs mostly filled in, a little more work required.
I am still amazed at the number of blackbirds in the garden, today on the back lawn there were ten at one point. Never less than seven and they fight like mad.
Pied wagtails still appearing each day, excited about this development.
Day spent in the garden mostly tidying up after the fencers. A little bit of work required to refix old panel to the new.
The huge holes dug to remove the concrete spurs mostly filled in, a little more work required.
I am still amazed at the number of blackbirds in the garden, today on the back lawn there were ten at one point. Never less than seven and they fight like mad.
Pied wagtails still appearing each day, excited about this development.
Tuesday 10th January 2017
Mild but dull and overcast all day.
Busy coping with decorators and fencers this morning. Don't tradesmen have their own tools these days?
It will all work out ok I'm sure but just at the moment feel a little stressed. More plaster fell off on the landing than I would have liked. Delaying the project by at least a week now.
Fencers doing well but not without problems. The very old concrete spurs appear to be in fact concrete posts that are in at a depth of 4'. A nightmare actually as needing to access neighbors garden to dig very large holes in order to remove. A generator had been hired to help with the job.
Was good to get away this afternoon for our quarterly cousins get together. Today at Margaret and Peter's house. Clearly I am not the only one suffering with a chest infection. Enjoyed the afternoon chatting over tea and cakes.
Hopefully can get out in the garden tomorrow?
Monday, 9 January 2017
Monday 9th January 2017
Very mild but wet and miserable all day.
Busy week, fencers and decorators working.
Having the hall, stairs and landing decorated. A fair amount of plastering is required on the landing so not a quick job.
The ivy hedge/fence is being replaced with closed boarded panels. Despite the appalling conditions three panels were achieved today.
Like a mud bath in the area of the fencing, terrible conditions.
This afternoon I connected up the wifi system I acquired just before Christmas. Works well with five speakers belting out Status Quo!
Another day of little in the way of bird life with so much activity in the back garden by the fencers. Only a couple more days birds and you will have your garden back.
Sunday 8th January 2017
Damp miserable day, just how I feel.
Spent day working on the history book. Have to make some changes now as have reached over 100 pages. Need to keep it at about 70 pages. Looking good though.
Not sure about wildlife today due to working on the book.
Spent day working on the history book. Have to make some changes now as have reached over 100 pages. Need to keep it at about 70 pages. Looking good though.
Not sure about wildlife today due to working on the book.
Saturday, 7 January 2017
Saturday 7th January 2017
Very mild, dull and overcast day. Pretty miserable.
Spent day at the desktop working on my history book. Working on the texts today, not easy as not enough space for what I want to report. May have to increase the numbers of pages?
Spawk turned up at lunchtime and spent a good ten minutes preening, not a bit interested in making a catch. Some pretty good photographs.
Friday 6th January 2017
Dull, miserable day. Very wet late afternoon/evening.
This morning I spent doing the final clearing of the hedge/fence rubbish. Any salvageable wood was used for another wood stack. The mice certainly love these wood piles along of course with all manner of bugs.
This afternoon paid another visit to Henry Street for a top up of coal. Five bags today so this should last the winter now.
Tonight enjoyed an evening with Savitri and Ian at Carlos and Sarah's house. Good friends from our University days, always good to catch up. We last met all together two years ago so lots to talk about not taking into account discussions on Brexit!
Thursday, 5 January 2017
Thursday 5th January 2017
Hard overnight frost that stayed for the day. Very cold day but also sunny, I love days like this.
Started the day with a dawn walk at Fobney. Stunningly beautiful as was the canal with wonderful reflections.
Morning spent at the hospital for further X-rays.
This afternoon I decided to move all the fence rubbish to the front garden ready for the skip. Not felt well enough last few days to carry out this work. Thankfully this cold will not linger.
Not being home much today I'm not sure what wildlife was about. Did see the pied wagtail again, definitely a regular now. Still the seven blackbirds and still fighting. The injured Blackbird is still about but only had one leg now. Amazing how it stands with just a fluttering of the wings.
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Wednesday 4th January 2017
A mild day, little sun and mostly overcast.
Most of the day spent writing up further history about the house. Almost there now to upload to the computer prior to sorting out the photographs.
Interesting day for wildlife. At breakfast time a male Sparrowhawk flew on to the bird feeder. Not seen that before, stayed for a few minutes before flying off without a hit.
A pair of pigeons got pretty close this afternoon. A fair amount of kissing took place before mounting. Unusual to witness at this time of year?
Enjoyed a walk at Fobney late this afternoon. The atmosphere was moody which to me is as magical as watching a colourful sunset develop.
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Tuesday 3rd January 2017
A very hard overnight frost with the day mostly sunny and cold. A complete contrast to yesterday.
As with last year I will be spending the winter months compiling another garden wildlife book and another book on the history of 479.
Made a good start today on the history book, picking up from where I started back last March. With all my saved notes I soon got into the swing of things. Already at 70 pages.
Came down for breakfast to be faced with a fox staring at me. Sadly by the time I had my camera ready it was only a rear shot that was achieved. The trai camera also picked him out at dawn.
Pied wagtail also appeared again. A regular now for sure so very pleased at this addition to the garden.
I have never seen so many blackbirds as this season, seven counted today all together ground feeding but also fighting big time. One now has a damaged leg after being floored. Not good to see.
As with last year I will be spending the winter months compiling another garden wildlife book and another book on the history of 479.
Made a good start today on the history book, picking up from where I started back last March. With all my saved notes I soon got into the swing of things. Already at 70 pages.
Came down for breakfast to be faced with a fox staring at me. Sadly by the time I had my camera ready it was only a rear shot that was achieved. The trai camera also picked him out at dawn.
Pied wagtail also appeared again. A regular now for sure so very pleased at this addition to the garden.
I have never seen so many blackbirds as this season, seven counted today all together ground feeding but also fighting big time. One now has a damaged leg after being floored. Not good to see.
Monday 2nd January 2017
Breezy, dull and pretty wet most of the day. Awful conditions by evening.
Day spent in Poole for the Johann Strauss Gala. What a performance, classical music at its best. Just brilliant, loved it.
Was a long day but well worth it.
Day spent in Poole for the Johann Strauss Gala. What a performance, classical music at its best. Just brilliant, loved it.
Was a long day but well worth it.
Sunday 1st January 2017
Cold and overcast most of the day.
Not feeling so good with a cold it was a case of staying indoors and doing nout.
A good day then to reflect on 2016 and think about what's ahead in 2017.
Some good moments during 2016, red kite roosting in the silver birch tree, arrival of a green woodpecker and pied wagtail, swifts clinging to the box, arrival of three hedgehogs, pair of foxes finding love and a spat of a jay and Sparrowhawk on camera. All good stuff for my next garden wildlife book.
To 2017 and more of the same I hope. Started off well with a male and female pied wagtail photographed together.
Just three projects this year. A new fence replacing a fallen ivy hedge fence. The wildflower meadow and a formal lawn in the alpine house area of the garden.
Get over this cold and I will be on the go again.
Not feeling so good with a cold it was a case of staying indoors and doing nout.
A good day then to reflect on 2016 and think about what's ahead in 2017.
Some good moments during 2016, red kite roosting in the silver birch tree, arrival of a green woodpecker and pied wagtail, swifts clinging to the box, arrival of three hedgehogs, pair of foxes finding love and a spat of a jay and Sparrowhawk on camera. All good stuff for my next garden wildlife book.
To 2017 and more of the same I hope. Started off well with a male and female pied wagtail photographed together.
Just three projects this year. A new fence replacing a fallen ivy hedge fence. The wildflower meadow and a formal lawn in the alpine house area of the garden.
Get over this cold and I will be on the go again.
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