In the bleak midwinter...

Winter time is tough for birds. We're all encouraged to do our bit to feed the birds, and we're lucky to have a large variety of birds in and around our garden. Like many of our neighbours, we put up bird feeders and the speed at which they are emptied/finished is clear evidence of their need.

This picture shows a house sparrow, a bird most people would assume is extremely common and present in abundant numbers. They are, however, struggling to survive in the UK with numbers declining to such an extent that the RSPB has placed them on their Red List with very significant population decline in recent years.

The photo was taken looking out the back of our house. I chose to use spot colour on the bird to emphasise the harshness of winter and the lack of colour in the rest of the image.