Wintry sunset in Stroud

The bird feeders have been in need of a clean for a while, so I had a go today. It was quite cathartic, getting them clean and fresh for a new batch of food, as I had to solve the puzzle of how to undo a complex spring mechanism in the squirrel-proof one. I only had to put it back together again twice, when I found a missing spring seemed to have no where to go.

I've also been spring cleaning my office, purging the excessive papers I accumulate from all the council and Preservation Trust plans, briefings and minutes. I always procrastinate when faced with tasks like these, but then find the resulting clear space and relative order is so refreshing that I want to keep going.

When Woodpeckers came home, we had some more of her delicious birthday cake, which our neighbour Karen baked, with a cup of tea, before I continued the cleansing on. I did pop outside to see if I could photograph one of the bullfinches, but they were very flighty today. Whilst standing out in the garden, I noticed thousands of birds flying south-westwards towards the River Severn and beyond to the sea. They seemed to be following each other in groups of about fifty and were in a continuous stream from the very cold north. I couldn't identify them but think they are probably gulls of some sort. I must try to learn the tricks of identification as it would be good to know what they are.

I went back to work having decided my pictures weren't very good, until Helena looked through her work room window and shouted out that the sunset was spectacular tonight. So I nipped out for this quick and lazy blip. I do love the colours of sunsets and wish we had a west facing window where I could easily sit and gaze at them. The ridge at the bottom of the picture is the hillside running down from the site of the Iron Age camp on Rodborough Common, which is on the far side of the River Frome valley, which ends at the bottom of this slope, where the five river valleys all meet at Stroud and lead out to the Severn Vale. Perhaps the flocks of birds that we get here use this large valley as a signpost , as we get lots of flocsks, some of which I presume are heading to Slimbridge, which is only a few miles away in the direction of the sunset.