Chilly

As I drove home from the owl field last night it became increasingly misty. It even looked as though an inversion might be forming over Chipping Campden, and I made a mental note that it would be worth going up Kingcombe Hill this morning to check it out - all the while knowing that when I got up I'd be able to find plenty of excuses for doing no such thing. We've had a few days now of near-zero temperatures, but last night was several degrees below zero, and this combined with the mist to form the most spectacular hoar frost. When R and I drove into Stratford late morning, the trees and hedgerows had all turned silver.

It was so cold in town that I was glad I'd worn full owling gear, because after just a few minutes standing in Holy Trinity churchyard the intense cold began to penetrate, and as soon as I realised that R had completed his errands and gone for coffee I was happy to cut my churchyard birding session short and totter off to join him. Very few birds came out from the shelter of the yews and pine trees while I was there - and who could blame them in the circumstances? - but I sprinkled more than the usual quantity of bird seed around in the hope that they'd collect it later.

This little Coal Tit was one of only half a dozen birds I was able to photograph today. I heard it tsipping to itself quietly in the yew under which I was standing, and to my surprise, when I edged out into the open and looked up to find it, it stayed put and didn't fly away. Here its gaze was directed down towards one of the heaps of seed I'd placed on the nearby mossy headstones, as it thought about launching a tiny raid. After taking a quick burst of shots I stepped back underneath the tree, and a few seconds later the bird flew down, grabbed a seed and disappeared back into the yew.

Weather like this is especially punishing for tiny birds such as the Coal Tit, because their body mass to surface area ratio is very low, which means they can lose heat at a dramatic rate. Despite this, it's one of the UK's most successful bird species: the population increased in the middle years of the last century, and numbers have remained stable since then. Its secret seems to be that it's very adaptable, at home in a range of environments from coniferous woodland to urban gardens, and eating a broad diet including insects, spiders, larvae, seeds, and nuts. In the winter it will cache any surplus food it finds in bark crevices, to help it survive leaner times.

Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely response to yesterday's owl images. I'm very happy that you liked them.