RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2009

This year the RSPB hosted its 30th Big Garden Birdwatch. This is the first year I have taken part and I must admit that it was great fun. I bet many other wildlife bloggers also took part in the event. I thought I would do this posting to show you what I saw this year. I will first say that I didn't really see anything particularly unusual, but it is the taking part that counts, in my opinion. I haven't got any photos of the event but I have got quite an exciting video clip for you to watch- well, I think so anyway!

I watched the birds for an hour between roughly 09:10- 10:10 yesterday morning. I am yet to enter my results on the RSPB website, but I have my list here. I watched from my bedroom window (where I have the best view of the whole garden). The reason why I couldn't take photos from there is because the feeders are too far from the house for my camera to take close-up photos. Anyway, before I talk for too long, here is my list:

Blackbird x 1
Blue Tit x 3
Chaffinch x 2
Collared Dove x 1
Dunnock x 1
Goldfinch x 5
Greenfinch x 2
House Sparrow x 2
Magpie x 1
Robin x 2
Song Thrush x 1
Starling x 2
Woodpigeon x 4

This gives me a total of 13 species. I don't think this is bad, however, I was a little disappointed not to see a Great Tit or a Coal Tit. They obviously had other things on their minds. I suspect this isn't going to be a particularly great score compared to everyone else, but I guess it depends greatly on the time in which you do it. So, having seen 13 species, I would have been disappointed with my results. However, while I was counting the birds, I, for the first time, captured Blue Tits entering my camera nestbox. Admittedly, they didn't stay long actually inside the box, but I was still chuffed to bits to see it.



Above, I have included one of the two captured videos. There seems to be 2 males fighting over 1 female in our garden at the moment, which is very interesting, and it appears that it is one of the males that has visited the box. I have to say that this constant interest in the nestbox bodes well for the nesting season ahead. Of course it is only January and its early days yet, but as long as these birds keep visiting, I think its likely that they will nest there in spring. Fingers crossed for that!

I have left the video as I captured it for now, so you will find that nothing happens after the Blue Tit has left for around 20-30 seconds. Please stop the video after the Blue Tit leaves the box. I was very surprised with the fantastic quality of the video. Seeing the greyish wood shavings made me think that the colour wouldn't be very good, but I was definitely in for a surprise. I look forward to the nesting season ahead in our nestbox and everybody else who owns a nestbox!

Just before I go, I must congratulate and thank Shirl for her effort organising the Plant Challenge and also to the people who helped spread the word. It was a great event, and I was amazed with the interest it caused. Also, I look forward to seeing other people's results for the Big Garden Birdwatch.

Video taken in my camera nestbox on 24th January 2009

Desert Island Plant Challenge

Ah, right then, the Desert Island Plant Challenge. This should be an interesting one, Shirl. The rules were simple, but choosing plants definitely wasn't! I have been thinking of what plants to include now for a while and I think I have finally come up with my top 3. I am not particularly knowledgable with plants, so this posting was harder than usual. However, even though I am probably slightly more into birds and wildlife than plants, I think I have a good enough idea to take part in this. Ok so here goes...

1) Conifer tree or Pinophyta- As you will see here, I have not gone for a specific type of conifer tree on my Desert Island. We have one of these trees in our garden, and they have got to be one of my favourites. Well, why have I picked it? The main reason is for the protection it gives - all year round. Being an evergreen it would shelter you from the sun, wind, rain, snow and the cold all year round. If that isn't a good enough reason for you, they provide nesting sites for all sorts of birds.

2) Hollyhocks or Alcea- We have inherited these plants in our garden for years now and they have got to be one of my favourite flowering plants of them all. The main reason for me picking these is because they remind me so much of home. I always imagine Hollyhocks as being in front of an Old English cottage in the countryside, swaying in the wind. Admittedly, at home we are really in the suburbs and are in a smallish garden. Its roughly the same effect though, and on a Desert Island, they would be perfect.

3) English bluebells or Hyacinthoides- I have picked this plant for its pure beauty. I can just imagine these plants surrounding my conifer tree in the summer. They are spectacular, especially in the numbers seen below. Unfortunately they are prone to being vandalised, but on my Island, they will be untouched! Again, they, to me seem very british. These colourful plants really seem to turn a forest to life. One of my favourite animals has got to be a butterfly. Bluebells are sure to attract these!

So there you have it. The three plants I will take with me to my Desert Island. Even with my less than average plant knowledge, I struggled to narrow my list down to three. Other people involved will struggle more, probably. I wonder what everyone else will choose. I am not really sure if anyone else will pick any trees, but we'll see. Thank you Shirl for organising such fun! I am sure everyone else involved will have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Just a quite note for now. You may notice that my blog template has changed (I think this one looks better). You may also notice that there is a new link on the right of my blog. This leads to a new separate blog which I have created. It is called Joe's camera nestbox diaries and will have posts on everything related to my camera nestbox. At the moment I will not post as much as I will in the nesting season (supposing we are lucky enough) but should be regularly updated. I thought it will be easier for you to look at my camera nestbox postings on a separate blog, so that you can skip between my most recent postings.

I thought I would also mention the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. I will certainly be taking part, and will reserve the garden for the birds for an hour on Saturday. I am likely to do a posting on this afterwards, so feel free to join me. We can then compare results. I wonder who can see the most species. Hmm... this could be another challenge. Who can see the most birds in their garden for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. I'd be very interested to find out what you all see. I will certainly top up the feeders on Friday evening or Saturday morning!

Top photo taken by me at Wendover Woods and the bottom two are both from wikipedia.

Will I ever catch them?

Hmm... I am beginning to think if I will ever be lucky enough to capture these birds on camera as they investigate the box. I think we have had birds investigating this box twice now, and I have missed both of them. At least I know that, come spring, I will have a better chance of actually seeing the birds nesting. Again, you will really have too look carefully at the images below for this one! The wood shavings at the bottom of the nestbox seem to have given them away again. The wood shavings have definitely at least been disrupted.

Actually, before I go any further into these recent sightings, as you will already know that I created this new blog. I have done this, mainly to show my camera nestbox sightings as a separate diary. It will also be easier for you, as readers to skip between my recent camera nestbox postings. If we don't get any nesting Blue Tits this year, I will still keep the blog for next year. I will also say that there will be more and more postings here going into the spring supposing we do get nesting birds.

Again, I am not sure if anything stayed for long as the wood shavings have not moved too much. Apparently, a familiar sight with camera nestboxes is that, any residents will often frantically remove wood shavings from the box (presumably because it is not approved nesting material. So if I happen to notice that the shavings are decreasing, I think I will know why. I also don't know what species entered the box. If it wasn't a Blue Tit, I think it is more likely that it would have been a House Sparrow. A Great Tit (I would have thought) would be unlikely to nest so close to the house - but I could be wrong.

Before:
After:

This time, I have not used videos to show the nestbox. I found that, last time, the videos were not going to be clear enough for you to see the difference. Notice in the picture that, i particular there is one large wood shaving that has moved from the bottom of the picture to the left hand side of the picture. By the way, I have considered the possibility that the wind could be disrupting the wood shavings however it was not remotely windy today. The bottom image was taken during the day and the top one was during the night, but you will still notice that the bottom picture is very different from the top one.

Have you noticed any birds visiting you nestboxes at this time of year. Now that I have a camera nestbox I have noticed just how frequent these visits are for us even before the birds start nesting. I wonder if I will get any roosting Blue Tits in the box while the weather is still cold. I know that Shirl at Shirls gardenwatch has seen this in her camera nestbox. Looks like this could be an interesting year, Shirl. My mealworms have arrived and I have already put them out in the garden - the adult birds like them too, especially the Robins.

All images taken in my camera nestbox on 20th Jan and 21st Jan

First images

Presumably you can guess what this posting is going to be about based on the title. My new camera nestbox has now been put up on our house, and I we have seen the first video pictures of it. We put it up last weekend, so that it was there for birds to inspect the box well before the breeding season. My dad managed to get a long ladder from our neighbour in order to put the nestbox on the wall of the house. It was a difficult job, as it was a windy day and he had to drill a hole through the house wall to get the cable through. But hopefully it will pay off...

I'm not sure I can believe this, but I think we have already had a visitor to our camera nestbox. I didn't see the bird (presumably a Blue Tit) as I was at school, but I have noticed a difference inside the nestbox. Before we put it up, we put wood shavings at the bottom of the box so as to keep any roosting birds warm. The wood shavings appear to have been moved and shuffled around. Please take a look at the video below and see what you think! The video you see won't be as good quality as the one I will be able to view, however, you should still be able to see it clearly enough. Also, you will notice that the video is in black and white. This is because it was dark when recording both clips, and the camera was using the infra-red lights to light up the box.


Now that I have watched the version of the video that you will see, I can see that the image is very unclear. It is not the case for me, and believe me, there is definitely a difference in the wood shavings at the bottom of the nestbox. So, assuming it was a Blue Tit, it looks like a nestbox inspection has taken place, to check out nest sites for the breeding season. Admittedly, there is little disruption of the nestbox floor, so it looks like the bird was probably not there for long. I also wonder if a male and a female visited... I hope so!

I wonder if other people are currently getting birds checking out their nestboxes. It certainly does seem early in the year for birds to be investigating nest sites. Its only mid-January and nest-building is unlikely to begin until at least mid-March. Or, was the bird that visited looking for a roosting site? If so, the "Blue Tit" decided not to use it tonight, because the box is currently empty.

Tomorrow, before I go to school, I think I will leave the computer to record the nest box. This way, I will be able to check later on if anything has visited. From past experience, I have found that the birds will tend to visit the nestbox quite frequently before nest building if that nest site is popular with the parent birds. So hopefully, they should visit again soon-fingers and toes crossed.

Finally I must buy some mealworms soon. They become life-savers in the breeding season, but will still be popular at this time of year. I find, that the live mealworms (if a little wriggly and awkward) seem to be better for the birds to feed on. I tend to buy the live mealworms over the Internet as they are difficult to find elsewhere (scary to think that boxes of worms are in the post!) I'd be interested to know where you get your bird food from. I recommend http://www.birdfood.co.uk/. Most of their products have been recommended by the BTO (as they used to be in partnership) and they have a wide range of products. The website is definitely worth a look.

Video taken in my camera nestbox on 13th January 2009

It's all out there...

You just have to look for it in our garden. Today, as I went outside at first look there was nothing there. But just stand back and observe and you will notice all sorts of nature in almost every garden. But what nature? Well, just by standing around near our garden shed, I saw all sorts of interesting things- birds, plants, the sun. But it takes time to notice these things sometimes, especially when everything appears to be hidden. So why are things hiding in the garden at this time of year?

The cold is probably the most obvious threat for any garden life in the winter, causing most living things to try and find somewhere warm. Obviously this is difficult for a plant seeing as they can't walk or fly to a warm spot in the winter sun, but today I spotted a tiny wild flower at the end of the garden in the sunlight. I was very surprised to see this colour in our garden at this time of year. This really was hard to see and was very well hidden in all the undergrowth. But its not just the tiny wild flowers that were hidden for the winter- the Rhubarb plant really has died down, and all that's left at the moment is a pile of the black and brown leaf remains.

Today, many of the birds were found in our evergreen tree at the end of our garden. Is this because they are more covered and protected there? The apricot tree with no leaves is certainly a bit exposed at this time of year. A predator such as a Sparrowhawk would easily see a bird in our apricot tree and would be a real threat. So I have placed some new bird feeders deep in cover in our garden, in the hope that the more shy birds will take some food from them. We have bought a new fat feeder which we put deep in the cover of our apricot tree (the Blue Tits have already found it)! I have just ordered some mealworms and I will put them in a makeshift feeder as you will see in the photo below. This one is placed in an evergreen bush and is definitely in a covered place.

I went out with my camera earlier to see if I could take any bird photos. The Dunnocks were very shy and were also "hiding" in the trees today. Most of them took a quick snack from our hanging bird table before flying back into the trees, but I managed to get a picture of a more tame one on a branch. Whilst I was outside I also saw a Coal Tit flitting through the conifer with a Blue Tit. Recently I have also spotted a visiting Wren whilst outside. All of these small birds were probably looking for food with lots of energy. The fat block and balls I have just put up must have come in very handy for these birds.

Shirl posted about her visiting Blackcap not that long ago. Well, I am pleased to say that we have also seen our first Blackcap of the year. It was a female with its chestnut brown cap. In previous years we have mostly seen them on our fat feeders and seed feeders but this time it was seen on our peanut feeder. Hang on a minute... I have only just realised. It isn't even supposed to be here at this time of year, but it was definitely a Blackcap - no doubt about it. Blackcaps are summer visitors, not winter ones. So why am I seeing one in our garden?

Well, when I am confused about some bird sightings I tend to resort to a bird book. My question was answered the Complete Garden Bird Book which said, "Blackcaps are generally summer migrants breeding across the whole of Europe, but they are now also a regular and an increasingly common winter visitor, particularly in milder areas of Britain and the warm climates of southern Europe" Today I also spotted a Starling for the first time in a while on a fat feeder near the house.

Whilst I was outside, I took the opportunity to take a look at my "nature patch". I must admit that I am not very good at regularly digging up weeds, but in the winter the weeds aren't growing particularly fast anyway. However, my wild flower seeds are growing quite steadily and look like they are surviving the cold weather we have had so far this winter. The shop-bought plants from Homebase are also doing well and are starting to fit in and flow with the rest of the patch. Hopefully, they also continue to live through the frosts we have been having recently.

Talking of nesting sites for birds, I bet the Ivy in the photo below is a great site for nesting Robins, as well as a nice feature in our garden. Last year we had our Cherry tree (which was not growing very well and looked unwell) cut down. On it was a Robin nestbox, which is obviously now spare. So I wondered if the nestbox could be sited in the ivy. Even if it wasn't used for nesting there, it could at least be available for any winter roosters. Its definitely got enough cover from predators there. Again, it was only today that I noticed the bright green colour of the ivy. Ivy has got to be one of my favourite plants, so I don't really mind that its growing quite rapidly on the tree now.

Coming back to my main post theme of animals and plants "hiding" at this time of year, there aren't any Blue Tits roosting in our camera nestbox, or any of our nestboxes for that matter. I am guessing that it is warm enough for them to be outside in this weather. In fact today has been a fantastic day in terms of the weather. Sadly it isn't going to continue tomorrow with heavy rain forcasted. In this posting I must mention the fact the bloggers which take part in the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day post certainly managed to "find" plenty of "hidden" plants to talk about this month!

All photos taken in my garden on Sunday 18th January 2009.

2008 Blue Tit nest

Last weekend (when we put up our new camera nestbox), we agreed that it was also time to take down and clean out the terrace nestbox used by a pair of Blue Tits last year. We haven't actually cleaned it out yet, which is either a job for tomorrow or next weekend sometime, but I have had a first look at the nest built last year. I already guessed that it was not a successful year for them last year, and I think I was right.

How do I know this? Well I remember last year that nesting material went in the box quite quickly and the chicks were being fed quite frequently. However, I am really not sure what happened but the feeding stopped quite abruptly well before the chicks would have been due to fledge. And now that I have seen the nest I sadly saw the remains of some young birds. So what actually happened?

They could have died for a number of reasons. Possibly the most obvious was that they could have starved. This is very common and could easily be the case here. The parent birds did bring in insects, but I am not sure there were enough caterpillars to feed the chicks on. A BTO garden bird book stated this about Blue Tits nesting in gardens: "The average number of eggs laid in gardens (8.8 eggs) is less than that in mixed woodland (9.7) and mature oak woods (10.9). This is because gardens do not support anywhere near the number of insects (especially caterpillars) needed". It then went on later to say: "The end result is that many young Blue Tits die in nestboxes, having starved to death".

So I think that was probably the reason for the unsuccessful year. Having said this the parents might have abandoned the nest (although I don't know why they would have). While this is sad news, it is perfectly natural and is definitely not unusual as we found with Shirl's nestbox diaries for the past 2 years. I am still trying to order some live mealworms ready for the year ahead. Apparently, they can almost be as good for hungry chicks as caterpillars. I'm not sure that they are the best thing for any young birds our garden may have this year, but its the best I can do, and should help.

Hopefully, the drama that unfolded last year in the terrace nestbox last year can be repeated this year in our camera nestbox (with some fledging birds this time) for us all to see. I haven't seen any action since my last posting, but hopefully I will be able to capture some more inspections. I am sure, that even if nothing nested there this year, I would at least be able to capture birds visiting the box in the coming weeks.

As for the terrace nestbox, after I have cleaned it out, it will need to be put up again, but somewhere else. I really would love to see House Sparrows actually using the box. They like to nest in small groups, so the box should be the right place. I didn't even see them visit the terrace nestbox last year, but there is currently quite a few of them in the garden. They tend to like the seed mixes rather than the suflower hearts here, so I have filled our main feeder with it. Good luck to all nesting birds this year!

All photos taken in my garden on 17th January 2009

First images

Presumably you can guess what this posting is going to be about based on the title. My new camera nestbox has now been put up on our house, and I we have seen the first video pictures of it. We put it up last weekend, so that it was there for birds to inspect the box well before the breeding season. My dad managed to get a long ladder from our neighbour in order to put the nestbox on the wall of the house. It was a difficult job, as it was a windy day and he had to drill a hole through the house wall to get the cable through. But hopefully it will pay off...

I'm not sure I can believe this, but I think we have already had a visitor to our camera nestbox. I didn't see the bird (presumably a Blue Tit) as I was at school, but I have noticed a difference inside the nestbox. Before we put it up, we put wood shavings at the bottom of the box so as to keep any roosting birds warm. The wood shavings appear to have been moved and shuffled around. Please take a look at the video below and see what you think! The video you see won't be as good quality as the one I will be able to view, however, you should still be able to see it clearly enough. Also, you will notice that the video is in black and white. This is because it was dark when recording both clips, and the camera was using the infra-red lights to light up the box.



Now that I have watched the version of the video that you will see, I can see that the image is very unclear. It is not the case for me, and believe me, there is definitely a difference in the wood shavings at the bottom of the nestbox. So, assuming it was a Blue Tit, it looks like a nestbox inspection has taken place, to check out nest sites for the breeding season. Admittedly, there is little disruption of the nestbox floor, so it looks like the bird was probably not there for long. I also wonder if a male and a female visited... I hope so!

I wonder if other people are currently getting birds checking out their nestboxes. It certainly does seem early in the year for birds to be investigating nest sites. Its only mid-January and nest-building is unlikely to begin until at least mid-March. Or, was the bird that visited looking for a roosting site? If so, the "Blue Tit" decided not to use it tonight, because the box is currently empty.

Tomorrow, before I go to school, I think I will leave the computer to record the nest box. This way, I will be able to check later on if anything has visited. From past experience, I have found that the birds will tend to visit the nestbox quite frequently before nest building if that nest site is popular with the parent birds. So hopefully, they should visit again soon-fingers and toes crossed.

Finally I must buy some mealworms soon. They become life-savers in the breeding season, but will still be popular at this time of year. I find, that the live mealworms (if a little wriggly and awkward) seem to be better for the birds to feed on. I tend to buy the live mealworms over the Internet as they are difficult to find elsewhere (scary to think that boxes of worms are in the post!) I'd be interested to know where you get your bird food from. I recommend www.birdfood.co.uk. Most of their products have been recommended by the BTO (as they used to be in partnership) and they have a wide range of products. The website is definitely worth a look.

Video taken in my camera nestbox on 13th January 2009

Birds bathing

It seems silly that at this time of year in the sub-zero temperatures, that any bird would want to wash itself in cold water. Well, Sunday morning while I was filming the birds, a Magpie decided to have a splash in our bird bath. I had only just tipped the ice out of the bird bath and filled it again with water. It was very funny to watch, and quite sweet too, even though it was a Magpie.

I had my tripod placed in the usual position of our office building. Again, please forgive me for the bad control of the tripod in the video below. I will learn! The other birds didn't dare to take a dip at the weekend, but were busy on the feeders most of the day. The main features were Blue Tits (it appears that 2 have already paired up for spring as they flew around together), House Sparrows (which have been very common recently), Great Tits, Dunnocks (as always), Robins, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Magpies and of course Woodpigeons and Collared Doves too. I have read Shirl's posting for today, and it looks like her garden was very busy with birds coming and going. Notably the Blackcap, which I haven't seen so far this year. Hopefully the extra suet I put out on Sunday should attract them again this winter.




I haven't seen any investigation of our terrace nestbox for a 2 or 3 weeks now, so I hope they return when I relace it with my camera nestbox (hopefully this weekend). Its interesting to hear that birds in different parts of the country nest earlier than others. I am guessing that because the south is warmer, birds such as the Blue Tit are more likely to investigate nest sites earlier than in previous years.

The other video I wanted to show you timed out when it was uploading, but I will try again tomorrow.

Both videos were taken by me in our garden on Sunday 4th January 2009

Christmas and New Year holiday

If you were wondering why I haven't posted in a while, it is because we have been away. But today I have a monster post to make up for it. Firstly to Christmas, and before I forget, Happy Christmas everyone (if a little late). We visited my Grandpa's house in Oldham and had a great time there. Hope all you readers had a fantastic time wherever you were this Christmas. I had the best nature Christmas present I could have hoped for! Read on and find out what it was...

Have you guessed yet... A camera nestbox for the garden. I really was chuffed to bits to unwrap this. I was really surprised with the amount of accessories it came with too. This will be a first for me, as I have never used anything like it before. I will definitely need help putting it up, although I have already tried the camera out inside. I think I also know where the best place to put it up would be. Last year we had Blue Tits nesting inside one of the sections of a House Sparrow Terrace nestbox on the back of the house, so I think if I replaced that nestbox for a year with the new one, there is a decent chance it will get used. Not only this, but the terrace box needs cleaning out, so it needs taking down anyway.

I am very much looking forward to any nestbox activity in the near future. We currently have Blue Tits investigating the House Sparrow terrace, so fingers crossed, we are lucky enough to have residents in the box this year.

While I was in Oldham, I took the time to get outside and take some snaps and videos of my Grandpa's garden (which is remarkably neat). His neighbours feed the birds too, so I got the chance to video some common garden birds too. Below is a video showing the garden and its plants, using my new camera tripod, which coped well with the strong wind. Before now I had been balancing my camera precariously in order to get a video which isn't wobbling around all over the place. Hmmm.... I think I need a bit more practice using the tripod as you will find out from the video.




In his garden, he also has a small pond, with some plants surrounding it. It really looks nice at the end of the garden and helps the local birds too. Again the video below was taken using my tripod which has really been useful so far. Various reed-type plants overhang the pond and make it all look natural. Note the use of the made-up word, "reed-type". This is because I have no idea what the plants actually are!

On this blog, I don't often show scenic photos, but this one and some of the others later on in this post I couldn't resist adding them to this post. The first one below was taken at my Grandpa's house again and is of the sunset. Sometimes it is just luck when a photo opportunity comes up like this one. I just happened to be in the garden at the right time to see it. My camera probably isn't the right thing for taking pictures such as this, but I was happy with the effect anyway.

After a very enjoyable family Christmas, we went up to a town called Barnard Castle in County Durham for a New Year's holiday with family friends and relatives. As most of our holidays involve walks, so did this one, which provided me with lots of bird-watching opportunities as well as photo ones too. And I saw a total of 29 species over the course of Christmas and New Year (most at New Year). Please don't try to read them all at once! They were:

Canada Goose, Pheasant, Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Lapwing, Common Gull, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kingfisher (seen by my cousin when he was fishing), Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Long-tailed tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch.

We visited a number of places while we were there and High Force Waterfall was one of them. It was spectacular. Not only the actual waterfall, but the icicles around the waterfall were stunning. With the waterfall I tried slowing down the shutter speed of my camera to see what would happen to the water effect, and it worked really well, so I have included that below, underneath the one taken at ordinary camera setting speed. We also saw another, smaller waterfall afterwards, which seemed tiny compared with High Force.

I found that some of the photos I took on holiday looked better in black and white. The sheep looked particularly good. But thats probably because they are black and white anyway! Below are a couple which a played around with on a program called Photoshop (which you have probably all heard of anyway. I particularly liked the bottom one.

The highlight of the holiday has to be a visit to a reserviour high in the hills. It had snowed and it was absoloutely freezing. The effect was quite stunning. The air was perfectly still there too. The water was rippling very gently, although some parts of the reserviour had frozen over. It was the perfect opportunity for photography too. As I said earlier, my camera isn't perfect for the job, but I did my best. I couldn't believe it when I saw the no swimming sign next to the frozen over reserviour in the middle of nowhere, and just had to take a picture of it.

All photos taken by me on holiday in Oldham and County Durham