A Sprinkling Of The White Stuff

I was a bit surprised by the sprinkling of snow that greeted me when I got up this morning and also how calm it was. It would have been calm enough for some ringing on Rawcliffe Moss but the last shoot of the season had taken place yesterday and I knew the feeding station would have been disturbed and the totals of birds at the feeding station bore this out. I would have been gutted otherwise!

Again a Great-spotted Woodpecker was drumming from Tree Sparrow Wood as I unloaded the two buckets of seed, apples and peanuts from the boot of my car. Pink-footed Geese seemed to be moving around this morning and I had 730 go over in four skeins.

I mentioned before that the totals this morning were lower than recently because of the shoot yesterday, but of course this is only a temporary disturbance and the numbers soon bounce back again. At the station were 37 Tree Sparrows, five Grey Partridges and seven Yellowhammers.

Gail and I had a walk up to the plantation and back but it was quiet. We had a calling Reed Bunting, four Linnets near Curlew Wood and six Corn Buntings back at the barn. No bird pictures today, only a picture of Snowdrops poking their heads up underneath a hedge. Hopefully spring is just round the corner.