Siskin

They're back!  Tony spotted two siskins in the elder tree last week and they have been early morning visitors since, just in time for the RSPB Gardenwatch.

As is reflected across the country, our bird numbers were down this year and some rarer visitors did not appear.  Our count was:
Blue tits 10
Coal tits 2
Long tailed tits 4
Great tits 2
Robins 2
House Sparrows 6
Jackdaws 3
Starlings 10
Blackbirds 5
Siskins 3
Goldcrest 1
Wood Pigeon 1

The siskins are very skittish and don't sit still for long, so this is the best blip I could capture.

It was a morning of lots of small jobs: filling the bird feeders; putting in a load of washing; sorting the supermarket order; retrieving some boxes from the shed for a neighbour who needs to pack up her kitchen; applying Shep's eye cream amongst them.

This afternoon Shep returned to the vet and still does not have the all clear, so it is four more days of eye cream and then after ten days I have to take a photograph of her eye and send it in!

There was just time for a quick cuppa on our return before an early evening hobble.