1st Red Admiral

A very fresh Red Admiral butterfly appeared in the garden this morning. It was very docile and even climbed onto my finger briefly.

Plight of Magpie vs Crow

After about 3 or four years of futile argument between a pair of Crows and a pair of Magpies. The nest site at the top of my Hawthorn tree has been ignored. Both paired birds have found sites elsewhere and can be seen in the neighborhood collecting bits of twigs straw and flying to another destination, not yet located by me.

Peacock sighted

A butterfly flew into the garden this morning, identified by Katherine as a Peacock.

Life in Cold Blood

The first spawn has arrived in the garden pond. Two batches have been deposited overnight.
Until now I had not seen any activity.

A count of Frogs during darkness of Saturday night made a total of just four.
Another batch of spawn appeared by morning.

Peacock Butterfly

The first Peacock butterfly of the year briefly paused in the North Farm Road front garden, and then continued along the row of south facing gardens all bathed in warm sunshine.

Birdwatching

1000 on Sun 27 Jan 2008

Temp:6.1 ° C

Wind:SW 3 mph

Pressure:1034 hPa
Tendency:Rising
(met office)
bright and calm, blue sky.

A first for our garden is a pair of Chaffinch, the male and female are taking some seed from a table placed a couple of feet from the ground.
Blackbirds and Starlings are pecking and prodding at the discarded Apples on the ground.
The Blackbird seems to enjoy the seed as well.
Blue tits make occasional forays to the peanut baskets and carry the nuts to the security of a tree nearby.
Sparrows arrive and depart in small parties for snack at the hanging feeder or a forage around the shrubbery.
A lurking cat sends all the birds off in a panicked retreat.

The Bumblebees are at work again

In warming sun a Bumblebee came to rest on the white wall of my south facing house close to the flowering Euryops shrub.