Blue and Yellow on Red and Green...

A bit of colour on a drab and dreary Friday. Our holly tree needs a damned good feed and a trim. She did get a good spread of manure last week which may thicken the foliage next year. Full of berries though and already they are beginning to be taken by blackbirds and thrushes. Fieldfares will strip her bare by mid December.

In the meantime the sparrows and, as you can see, bluetits are using her for easy access to raindrops. I'm not sure they eat the berries themselves, but they use the branches to wipe off their beaks, maybe from collecting grass seedheads from the very front garden.

The birds aren't yet using the feeders and it's clear to see why. The mild autumn has left plenty of food in the hedgerows and field margins. Once the frosts appear - if they do - then every feeding station will be busy. All the feeders will need deep cleaning too, as bird flu hit Slimbridge the other week.