At this time of year with no butterflies around, my attention shifts to birds which was my first love in Natural History.
So, with Slimbridge just down the road from us, me and Gloria spent a lovely day looking at wild and penned birds. What I didn't realise until I went was that they have a Wild Crane reintroduction scheme. They have a rearing centre and once they have successfully brought up the chicks, they release them. They did this on the Somerset Levels and wonder of wonders, some found their way back to Slimbridge and live there instead! The first I knew about it is when I saw them in the wild here. I have seen them in Europe before but this was my first time seeing them in Britain.
At home, winter hit hard and overnight. We have started to feed the birds with a number of food types and a variety of feeders and they are beginning to get used to it, gradually.
On Dec 1st we had Crow, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon and even a Herring Gull on the ground in our back garden.
The Treecreeper and Nuthatch were on our Ash at the same time.
The Jay and Green Woodpecker came down together too, but one was in the front garden while the other was in the back. Unfortunately for the Jay, the Squirrels (we have four of them) had knocked over the peanut feeder tray and absconded with most of the nuts. They eat them in situ normally and the ones they don't want right away they take and bury in our garden.
Foxy Feature
And so to the foxes. They are a daily (and nightly) feature in our garden. There have been many reports of them stealing stuff from people's gardens. For example, shoes left outside, kiddies toys, clothing, etc. One of our neighbours reported finding a small camera in a copse in his garden which another resident had lost the year before from his own garden some way away. Gloria left her sunglasses in the garden recently and they can now not be found. I hope the fox that took them looks fetching in them though. I was busy raking leaves in our garden late in November and had filled a bag. I dragged it away and collected another empty one. On my return I found a fox tugging at the tines of my rake trying to steal it. I walked up to the fox and stood not 10 foot away. He saw me but did not flinch. He just continued to try and pull away at the rake. I put my hands on my hips to look authoritive and said to him "Stop trying to steal my rake". Only then he stopped and sheepishly moved away, reluctant at first because he really liked my rake but finally he gave up and mooched off.
We have had some marvellous sunrises up here on the hill. It is worth getting up early just to see them.
It must be over a decade since I had been out in freezing fog but I just couldn't resist spending an hour with my camera on Minch Common in the one we got here on Dec 2nd.
And what about this huge clump of Mistletoe? Very festive looking.
Just goes to show "if you plant it they will come" to misqoute 
they're supposed to be flightless 
