Into the New Year

Not an event as such, but the cold weather this January is presenting quite an opportunity for some cracking bird photos. Birds normally find it quite difficult to find food at this time of year, and the recent frosts haven't helped. Therefore if you are able to put out some scraps or a few seeds and nuts, you'll probably find you are quickly surrounded by grateful birds in close enough proximity for you to click away whilst in the comfort of your own home.

I know this may sound a rather obvious tip, but it's worthwhile doing nonetheless since you may well be surprised at the variety of species. Right now I am, of course, able to see plenty of blue tits, robins, pigeons and the like, but I'm now getting regular visits from thrushes, nuthatches, jays, a couple of woodpeckers, wrens, several types of finch and a few smaller birds I've yet to identify for certain. Moreover, I've been careful to put the feeders close to cover so the birds have somewhere to hide from predators, but nonetheless all this bird activity has attracted several buzzards as well. All this for the sake of a bit of food in the garden at a time of scarcity.