Guess what... more snow

School was closed today because of heavy snow. I awoke this morning to a fair amount of snow, and it has snowed almost non-stop since then. The last lot of snow has really only just disappeared, and we now have a new covering! Through other blogs and the news, I get the impression that the UK has generally been affected quite badly by the snow, particularly in Scotland and Northern England.

We got our fair share of snow here in Bucks though, and it has definitely been very cold, with temps set to drop overnight. Because of the constant snow, it has been hard to find a gap in the snowfall, so that I could take my camera outside without it getting wet. I did manage to get out in the early afternoon with my camera for 20 minutes or so, and spend some time in the snow-covered garden.

I noticed that some snow had collected on the mobiles hanging on a pole, near the vegetable patches. I thought the contrast between the snow and the copper-coloured mobile looked quite nice.

The snow is covering almost all small plants in the garden at the moment. Although the snow is obviously very cold, I guess it is acting as a kind of warm blanket on the plants, stopping them from freezing in the open. The photos below show some various plants in the snow.

Various grasses

More grasses

The birds were, unsurprisingly very hungry today, and we saw the regulars in the garden, plus a few extras. The feeders were filled up just as it was getting light, and by the time it had gone dark, they were all empty again. The fat feeders were particularly popular, and the ground bird table had plenty of visitors throughout the day. Several times during the day, I heard tapping noises on the entrance hole of the nest box, although nothing popped inside.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker visited again. This time however, it only spent about 20 seconds on the feeders, and then flew onto the trunk of one of our conifers at the end of our garden. It then began drumming on the trunk, and was doing so for about 5 minutes. I was amazed with the energy the bird had. I also saw a Redwing again, as well as a Song Thrush, both of which were hopping around on the lawn at the end of the garden. A female Blackcap continues to visit, although she does seem a little shy, and is easily intimidated by other birds. No photos of these, although, with their more frequent visits, maybe they will build up the confidence to feed nearer the house.

The regular birds visited in large numbers, particularly the finches and starlings. The photo below shows a Goldfinch. As usual, the Goldfinches were the more approachable garden visitors, so photos were easier.

Also around were Blue and Great Tits, some of which ended up feeding on the ground, once the feeders were empty. The Blue Tits are fairly easy to photograph in our garden because they are one of the more tame visitors. The Blue Tits which I have seen in our garden all seem to be in very good condition, very much ready for Spring.

The highlight of today, however, was the sighting of a Fieldfare which was seen in the shrubs of the railway bank, overhanging a garden 2 doors away. Because of the distance between me and the bird, I only managed a very poor photo, which I have cropped and placed in the photo montage below. It only stayed for about 10 seconds, and flew away soon after it saw me. Shirl in Scotland also managed to spot a fieldfare around her garden. It looks as though many of the more uncommon birds are using our bird feeders as much as they can in this cold weather.

Top left and main photo - Blue Tit, bottom left photo - Fieldfare

Whilst is is clear that the birds are visiting very frequently, it also seems that we are getting some mammals visit our garden in the night. Yesterday evening, at about 9:00, I saw some fox footprints in the snow outside our back door. I checked the footprints in our "Animal tracks and signs" book, and confirmed that they were fox footprints. I followed the footprints, and they led directly to the ground bird table. Footprints in the snow really do show a lot about what animals visit your garden, and what they get up to!

I will definitely look out for more prints in the future. Maybe we will see some fresh footprints tomorrow morning. After this snow disappears, I really hope it warms up a bit here soon. Whilst I am really enjoying watching the frantic winter action in the garden, I am definitely looking forward to spring-watching now!