When the snow came I expected it be a "one day wonder", but no, it's remained for days and to be honest, I have really enjoyed the change of conditions.  The birds are having to work really hard to feed and are probably a bit more approachable than under normal conditions. For example, Redwings and Thrushes are stripping the berry trees bare and I wonder what will happen when that food source runs out, lots of fatalities I would imagine?  When  the frost really kicked in, I was concerned for my Kingfisher, if the brook were to freeze over completely, then how would she fish. It is known that bad frosts really take their toll on Kingfishers and I was therefore very relieved this morning when I went to look for her because I saw her fly up and down the brook.  Later, I took my pop-up hide and set it up to watch for her. At first, the  birds I saw were really interesting and I photographed this Reed Bunting working along the frozen edges of the brook, the first time I have seen this species by my hide area. I think this bird was doing OK because I actually saw her with a spider in her beak so it was having some measure of success.

The usual Grey Wagtail was working very hard and must have been finding something to keep it going. What was interesting was to see Redwings coming down to the brook to drink which again bears witness to the idea that the brook is a very important resource for the wildlife in the area.

After a while, waiting for the Kingfisher to show started to wear a bit thin, I was getting cold so I decided to end my morning session and stood to dismantle the chair hide.  At that moment a Kingfisher flew past me just  feet away and before I could register it in my mind it flew past again in the opposite direction, followed by another giving chase. The first one must have been a wandering bird encroaching on the resident female's territory and she was having none of it! It was like watching a fighter plane being pursued on it's tail by the enemy. Later on in the afternoon, I returned to see if I could get that Kingfisher shot but as I arrived at the hide area the KIngfisher was disturbed from her perch very close to the hide and she didn't return except to fly back towards me and then up stream.  I found something very interesting in the snow later on, a Kingfisher's regurgitated pellet!  I have seen Kingfishers 'coughing" up these pellets on several occasions and been intrigued but when I had tried to find them under the perch they had disintegrated in the water.  However, what had happened in this instance was that the pellet had frozen solid in the snow and remained that way until I picked it up. It is around the size of a brazil nut  but the colour of dried grass.It is made up entirely of small fish bones and scales and now that it has completely thawed out, is disintegrating at even the lightest touch. 

In the garden, the Blackcaps……. both male and female are still with us as well as lots of Blackbirds, Redwings and a single Song Thrush. We had at least 2 Long Tailed Tits, the first to come in to the garden this winter. Another bird of note was a male Chaffinch but no Goldfinches which is completely different to previous years.  Goldfinches are not as common this year and I don't know why. A real spectacle was a Buzzard being mobbed by dozens of gulls and 4 crows who decided that enough was enough and perched on the roof of the house opposite. Before I could grab my camera it had gone. Must be struggling to find food if it's thinking of gardens to scavenge in.