Every day I’ve been out in the cold thick snow, refreshing the bird food and water. The woodland drums have been drumming and news has obviously got out, as I seem to be feeding hundreds of birds at the moment.
I don’t mind though, I just hope it’s going to be enough.
The whole population of the nature reserve, including the pheasants (much to the dog’s disgust), have been spotted in the garden eating seed and grains.
It’s been amazing to see the huge variety of birds, but it makes me feel sad too. If they don’t replenish their lost energy every day then they won’t make it through the winter – it really is a fine balance between life and death for them now.
The good news for them is that we are snowed in now and it’s looking pretty unlikely that we will get away for Christmas, so I’ll be on hand to keep them fed throughout this frozen period. What’s more I’ve got plenty of bird food in store so I’m pretty unlikely to run out for some time to come, that’s assuming we can get out the back door.
One of the most exciting visitors has been a pair of Mistle Thrushes.
I can’t remember when I last saw these in the garden let alone on the nature reserve.
It’s been amazing to watch them and I hope that now they have found the garden, they will keep coming back – there are plenty of snails up here to keep them fed all year round.
I’ve also had a few starlings, which I have never seen here.
