I saw an article the other day that started of the rhyme about how many days each month has, you know, “Thirty days has September, April June and etc” and after February it said,”plus January that has one hundred and ten”. Which is exactly how it feels, especially up here as since New Year we have had some pretty cold spells, down to minus ten fairly regularly and you really do not feel like venturing out except for essentials. At last today the thaw has commenced with an overnight temperature of plus three the snow (at our level) has all but disappeared and the ice has started to melt.
22nd.
Some interesting things happening on my pond, these three shots illustrate the slight thaws and the freezing of the water. Today there is a thin layer of ice on the surface , then the white sections are trapped air in between the layers where the ice was frozen but melted around the edges allowing the air to get under the ice, then froze again, helped by me pouring water on one particular spot to allow a breathing hole to oxygenate the water. The small bubbles below the ice in the last shot, I am not sure where they come into it but they are below the top thin layer of ice. As you can see six of my eight fish survived, but my two biggest Goldfish didn’t and I removed them on the last melt.
25th.
Just up the road from us is the famous House of Bruar retail development, they like to call themselves “Harrods of the North”, though expensive they do have some really cracking “stuff” and this includes the fishing department. Above is their impressive display of game flies, Salmon and Trout, beautifully laid out and many patterns that I have purchased one of and then copied any further ones myself. One of my favourite hobbies is fly tying and nothing gives a fly angler more satisfaction than catching a fish on a fly that you have tied yourself.
26th
A clear night and a great view of the Moon, it is called a waxing crescent phase and according to my moon app, is thirty eight percent full.
27th.
This weekend is the “Big Bird Count” in the U.K. run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) where households are asked to do a bird count in their gardens etc. Though I do not take part it gives the RSPB a rough idea of how bird populations are getting on. So I went out and fed the birds this morning and then came in and sat in the warmth of the kitchen and photographed some of the birds that came to the feeders opposite the window in a five minute ( the bird count is for an hour normally) and see what birds came to the feeders. here are some of the shots that were “okay” to show you, some were rubbish as the birds were quick to feed and get away before I could focus.
A female Chaffinch and a landing Blue Tit.
Male House Sparrow.
Male Blackbird saying “why are you photographing me?”
A patient Sparrow.
Female Chaffinch and Great Tit.
Male Chaffinch.
Coal Tit
As the cup get’s lower , the Blue Tit can just sit inside and eat all it wants.
Before the count on this cold morning we had this hungry Jay stay in the garden for a while.
1st February.
That is it, the loooong month is over and we are into the shortest, days are longer and Spring is around the corner, we hope.