Years back, a neighbour was surprised to find a load of Butterflies attempting to overwinter in the folds of her curtains.

Find the occasional tortoiseshell hidden in the folds of the curtains...or in the upstairs area of the polebarn...during the 'winter months'.

None so far, this year.

Cheers - Phil.

I had a nice couple of hours pottering about in the garden this afternoon, having a bit of a weed (they grow all year round here in Bristol) and tidy up. Whilst doing this I noticed so many more of the bulbs have started to come up, which seem to be much earlier this year than previous ones.

My eldest has managed to cultivate quite the hungry bird collection in the front garden now, there's about 20-30 house sparrows, tree sparrows and starlings that can empty 5 feeders in 24 hours, so we're going through a mountain of bird feed at the moment.

We have more families near us feeding the birds, so don't see as many as we used to, but good to see others helping out .

Small birds giving feeders / Fat Coconuts a hammering in the cold and wet. Something, probably Sparrowhawk, made a 'fast pass', the other day... everything 'Ducked'!

Nice to feed 'the wild'... cheering to see. But, when I think about it... 'creatures' and Pets are getting fed better than WE are! lol. 

Birds: Peanuts, Seed, Fat Coconuts and Bread mainly bought for purpose! Dry and wet dog food for Foxes / Hedgehogs. Dog gets 2-3 feeds a day... dry / wet, with Bran and a Fungi supplement 'garnish'! Up to him when he eats it. Cat has 4 pouches... plus 'thieving' and 'hunting'... sicked up 'something' on return last night! 

Bought Fat Coconuts,, seed and nuts for Birds Xmas. Foxes might get double rations. Dog and Cat a bit extra.
Ma might be able to manage a mashed Mince Pie with Milk... and I might get Turkey Sandwiches as OUR Xmas treats!
L.O.L ! 

The Sparrowhawk was in our garden yesterday, but caught nothing and in the neighbours the day before. Stunning birds. Plenty of corvids and sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds and robins, with the odd bluetit showing up now. still very mild though despite a brief cold snap yesterday.

Quote from: Steve J on 23 December 2021, 07:45:16 AMThe Sparrowhawk was in our garden yesterday, but caught nothing and in the neighbours the day before.

I'd love a sparrowhawk in our garden, we rarely see them around here.  There's a local chap on Facebook called 'Boro Garden' who livestreams his garden each day and he gets one quite often.

Sparrowhawks have 'visited' garden for several years / generations. Have seen perched on bird table roof for a breather, but usually a 'fast pass'. As Garden is Very wooded, their maneuverability at speed is astounding.

Just a reminder to anyone thinking to put out waste Xmas food for wild animals, etc. Some constituents may be harmful to some creatures. Xmas cake/ mince pies have raisins and stuffing, onion which can harm Foxes/Dogs. Etc. DO NOT feed Horses/ Donkeys unless with permission of owner. Keep Xmas season Happy! 

'Little Old Guy' turned up again, on a cold, wet day, in need of cash! (Some F has nicked the Cat Converter off his Van!). So, got Gutters cleared before snow starts, flags shovelled, some saplings cut down, Security light now working (How can one Halogen Bulb be 'too big' when 'same' size as replacement?), some 'clean up' of roadside, and his Dumpy Bag from last visit removed! Green Bin now far too heavy... will have to tip some content!
All stuff that needed doing... but annoying thing about someone else doing stuff is that, unless YOU watch/ help, they will do things that you would not have wanted! Roadside 'self set' Wallflowers that have been nice for 3 yrs+, now gone!
Himself 'salivating' over getting chainsaw to work on overgrown bushes/branches! I Dread!   
Oh Well! 

Nice to see Nuthatch... Beautiful little Bird... on nut feeders. Also Blue Tits.
As Hedgehogs probably Hibernating... shouldn't get 'Fishy stuff'... Foxes scoffed Salmon Cuiches! 

Heard a woodpecker today.

best sightings of 2022 so far:
1st Jan: tree creeper and possibly gold crests at Hardcastle Crags
2nd Jan: merganser on Leed&Liverpool canal (en route to help plant another 500 trees - 27 people turned up, all done in 1 hour 40 minutes, with a rainbow appearance just as we finished  )
3rd Jan: long tailed tits at the allotment, and the ubiqitous robins of course.

Trying to see if I can get a daily sighting worthy of recording....

Went for a bike ride with a gaming mate along the Fylde to Morcombe bay this afternoon - windy and sunny, but we avoided the rain!

Stopped by a field as he had a puncture - and there where huge numbers of Canadian (?) geese in the field, as they took off the sound of all their wings was incredible - they looked like they were going nowhere taking off into the wind - but that may just have been the perspective.

This was a little bit earlier