There's still enough about though to take some Greeting Card style photographs of the Robins. There is something special about a Robin in the snow, I reckon. These two Blue Tits where squabbling over a tiny bit of fat ball which had fell from the holder. 
All 6 Black Birds where here again all day. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since I was writing about how I'd not seen any for so many months and worrying the Sparrow Hawk had caught them all. I actually saw one of them eating peanuts today, no I've never seen that before. 
The melting snow has uncovered lots of mole hills in the field above the garden. I'm guessing they must have been made just before the snow fell, whilst I was away, as the ground is frozen solid at the moment and surely a Mole wouldn't want to try and dig through that.
It must be hard for the small birds to find food at this time of year but in my garden I think the weather helps the smaller birds find the seeds as they just lay on top of the snow for them to pick up. 
They don't seem to mind if they eat off the ground or the feeder and usually fly from one to the other without preference.
Still no sign of the Squirrels or Jays.
The snow starting to melt
Blue Tit
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This morning I woke up and the snow was still thick on the ground. I went out with the kettle to defrost the bird bath and filled up the feeding station, as much as I could. I've run out of the square suet blocks the birds love so much and the shop didn't have any left either but I'm hoping when I go shopping 
The Woodpeckers were here today, they so wanted the suet from the coconut shell but that had run out too but eventually he settled for the fat balls. I spent a lot of time watching the Black Birds today and I could write a novel about their comings and goings right now. 
We now have 6 Black Birds in the garden. 2 adult males, 2 adult females and 2 juvenile males which look just like the adult male birds but without the bright yellow beaks. They all seem to be getting on very well except for one adult male which gets chased off. So I'm guessing all the others are from the same family. 
We also have another Crow which has joined the other two in our tree. I said yesterday that I was amazed how the birds were all getting along so well, well I'll take that back. 
Two of the Robins where back to normal today and chased each other non stop throughout the day. Still not seen any Squirrels and the Jays 
Back onto the Black Birds, one of the adult males was 
I've been trying for ages to get a photo of the woodpeckers in flight but the weather has been so dull I've not had enough light to get quick enough film speeds for a good photo. Today was no exception but I did get one slightly blurry shot of him flying away so I thought I would include it anyway.
As you can see we still have snow. My neighbour has been busy putting out fat balls whilst I was away so the birds haven't gone without. They did look excited when the peanuts and sunflowers seeds appeared again though. Since I've been back I've not seen any of the Squirrels or the Jays. There are lots of Chaffinches, Sparrows, 
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Mr No Tail was here straight away though, singing his heart out as he stood amongst the frosted leaves.
The Squirrels have been hiding away throughout the horrid weather but yesterday, as soon as that sun came out, Bernie was back, helping herself to the peanuts. The Jays are still around in force. I think there's a group of 5 living near by. I wonder if they roost together like others in the crow family? I must read up on that..jpg)
The sun definitely makes the garden look so much more alive. I've even noticed some new growth on a tree or shrub? at the top of the garden, at this time of year? I can't see what it is from the house. .jpg)
This Great Tit looks well fed, unless he was just fluffed up to keep himself warm in the frost. 
The Blue Tits are loving the sun. 
I don't think the Woodpecker's have left my garden since I refilled the feeder yesterday. .jpg)
There was a fantastic sky yesterday morning when we had the hard frost. 
Oh can't forget the Robin's. All three are still here and are still chasing each other. 
And finally, there's me. I'm still not very well and I'm not going to be around for a while to update my blog. No need to worry though, I'll be back online before the New Year is in I'm sure.
I have tried some more new food on the birds this week, which I'd not heard of before. Its taken a few days for them to show an interest but today the Blue Tits and Sparrows were well tucking into the new Fruit fat balls. They came without net bags too, which is a bonus. 
As so little has happened on the mammal front recently, I thought I would route out a photograph from earlier on this year to cheer myself up. I remember feeling so lucky when I managed to take this photograph of the fox and a hedgehog both at the same time. Roll on the spring.
With all these Black Birds around the Sparrow hawk wasn't far away and I somehow managed to miss a photo of him even though he landed only meters away from me and I had my camera switched on. He didn't catch anything in the garden whilst I was watching I'm glad to say. 
We had a visit from a 
Oh I saw Phil the Pheasant fly today for the first time. 'Cheeky' the feral cat (yes he's still about) decided to be adventurous and started to stalk Phil. Next thing I know Phil is squawking his head off in flight and Cheeky is looking rather confused coming out of the hedge. 
The Buzzards have been flying low over the garden today and being very vocal, didn't manage any good photo's of them though. Could do with some nice sunny days now so I can get some nice photographs again.
Luckily he left some for the Robins who thoroughly enjoyed it. 
The Blue Tits are still busy clearing my steps for me. 
The young Nuthatch was behaving weirdly this morning. He 
I spotted one of the female Chaffinches drinking from the 
I've still not managed to beat my record on the suet square but its great to see so many different birds feeding on there at once.
The Blue Tits have been working hard for me today without realising. Quite a few of them have started to cling onto the moss on the back of the steps and feed on whatever it is they are finding behind there. As they are doing that, bit by bit they are pulling off the moss and saving me a big job when I next have to go out and clean down the steps. Great job. .jpg)
I noticed today that most of the smaller birds can't tell 
Even the Great Tits are very nervous and keep an eye on the sky each time they see them move. 
The only birds who don't seem bothered in the slightest are the Woodpeckers. 
There are two little Coal Tits in the garden at the moment and they really don't like each other. They prefer to fight and chase rather than eat on different hangers on the same feeder. I've still not managed to beat my Suet Square record for birds yet. It gets ever so addictive though when I start to count. Its hard to pull myself away sometimes.
We had some new visitors again today. A pair of Magpies came into the tree's at the top of the garden along with the Crows. Instead of feasting on the food on the feeder themselves they were sat there waiting for the Jays to fill their beaks, then they would ambush them as soon as they tried to fly away. One poor Jay was chased by both the Magpies and the Crow 
In the frost today I found this one spot where the frost wouldn't freeze. I wonder if there was something spilt on the grass or if there is something warm underneath, now that has my imagination going. Maybe there's a nest just a few inches under the soil, how great would that be.
To match the sunrise this morning, 
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