Just a nibble then...

So it's the first day of spring! Well it certainly doesn't feel like it...
I woke to see sleet whipping past the bedroom window. This eased off to leave another grimly grey, freezing cold day. Tomorrow I'm supposed to be carrying out my first breeding bird transect of the season, so I'm hoping that the weather will be OK as sleet and snow are forecast for Friday and Saturday mornings.

There's no sign of our breeding frogs. After a brief flurry in the milder interlude they now seem to have gone back into hibernation. We normally have spawn by now. Only the blackbird is convinced that spring is on its way, busy carrying nesting material into a mature shrubby Lonicera, which it has to access by plunging in from above. I'm sure it will be a very safe place to nest, but can't help wondering how the fledglings will leave the nest.

I'm devoid of inspiration at the moment, so grabbed a quick shot of one of the neighbourhood squirrels, snacking on the birds' sunflower seed. This was partly to test out the new camera under low light levels - I'm suitably impressed and could never have got such a clear shot with the old camera.

We have at least three regular visiting squirrels, who get through large volumes of peanuts and other food. They also seem to be in league with the fox, and are very adept at unhooking the feeders from their branches. Once the feeders are on the ground the fox carries them away. So far we've lost four feeders, although we did mange to retrieve one from the fence crossing, where it must have proved too difficult to manipulate. I think we'll soon have to padlock the feeders to their supports!