January

Weather Stats

Max Temp =  10.8 deg C               Min Temp =   - 2.4 deg C            

 Max Wind  38.2 mph              Max Rain in 24 hr Period = 33.6mm

 Max Rain in 1 hr Period = 12.4mm          Total Rain For Month =  208.7mm

Diary

28th.  Most of the day was taken up with cleaning bird feeders, adding some metal trim to the base of the shed to stop unwanted critters from getting under and a general tidy up around the garden. Of course I found time to keep an extra close eye on the garden for an hour as I looked to submit results for this years RSPB big garden birdwatch. If you have not submitted your results just click the tab at the top of this page where you can do so. It has felt relatively quiet in the garden as the wind and light drizzle seem to have brought lethargy to our garden visitors even though the temps have remained quite high with a steady temp of 6 degrees all day.

My results for my Big Garden Birdwatch took place at 11:15 - 12:15. As stated the weather was windy with lots of dark cloud that were accompanied with light drizzle.

Greenfinch  1         Chaffinch 1

Blackbird  2          Blue tit  3

Goldfinch  4                Robin  1

Starling  6                  Dunnock  1

Wren  1               Coal Tit  1

Collared Dove  1        Grey Wagtail   1

I hope you all enjoyed the birdwatch as one thing that I am always amazed about is the feeling that not as many birds turn up as I felt could do but this probably shows that the garden is not always alive at any one hour but more over a longer period. One thing that I always feel sad about is the fact that I have never counted a House Sparrow to date when the count is on. It is something that I have been actively trying to change as I look at the type of planting and nesting that would suit there needs.

23rd.  Again the weather is the main talking point within the garden as the real winter began as the winds turned more northerly and with them an icy blast left it's mark on the garden in the shape of my favourite weather feature...snow! At 20:00 tonight it started snowing which has only just covered the ground by 13mm or so. The temperatures are very much up and down with it not reaching above 0.5 degrees all day. The first real frost appeared this morning as it dipped to a low of       - 2.4 deg. It was a real treat as sunshine has accompanied the cold temps for the last two days which has made a big difference to the light at the start and end of the day. I actually returned home in daylight tonight...hurraahh.

14th.  A huge difference in the weather today allowed me to do a few well overdue jobs in the garden. The sun has shone from 09:00 until sunset and what a difference it makes to the hour at which it goes dark. The temps have also been very warm locally to match those nationally. It has reached higher temps than the whole of the December with highs of 10.8deg C and a low of only 1.9deg C.

My wife and I also made the most of the good weather with a walk to our local res, Cowm reservoir accompanied by binoculars and camera. It was very breezy but the sun was lovely in protected places round the res and the added benefit of no rain! The bird count was low with only a couple of Cormorants noted of any real interest. I will have to check but I think thats the first time I have seen these birds around the res.

On my return I also set to with a few jobs that I have been meaning to do when the weather was a little more friendly. I set to making a couple of nest boxes for a friend that wanted a Great Tit and Blue Tit box for his home. I also made a few alterations to the boxes on my house wall. The Great Tit box had a new colour camera with white LEDs fitted along with an external sensor that swithed the LEDs on when daylight and off when darkness falls so as not to disturb the birds. The sensor seems to be in a poor position as the LEDs are not performing as I had hoped so a repositioning of the sensor has been done. I also have increased the amount of natural light allowed into the box by drilling about 10 10mm holes in the front of the box. The holes have then been covered with a small amount of perspex and sealed to stop water ingress. I could not test to see if the changed have made any difference as the light levels had faded. I shall have to add to the tech and info pages about the camera set ups so you can see the quite simple set up affair. I shall also add a few pictures to the diary tomorrow as the weather is set to continue for at least another day...hurraahh!

I did forget to mention that I have heard my first real songster of the winter period. I usually hear a Mistle Thrush at the end of December but this did not occur this year. I was rather pleased as I heard the welcome tones singing so proudly early on Saturday the 6th. I opened the window wide to enjoy his concerto, sadly a Carrion Crow did not feel the same as it pounced on him which led to an abrupt end of my enjoyment. I have not heard him since but I feel the soundbite will not be the last.

8th.  Well as you can see from the weather stats above the weather for 2007 has started rather "Wild". It really has been depressingly grey, windy and damp with only the odd amount of sunshine to speak of. As I write this at 15:00 the rain still falls from when it started at about 11:00 today. Not to much happenings in the garden of late possibly something to do with a visitor which seems to be using the garden a little to much having seen it 5 times on the 7th alone. On one of the visits I just managed a quick shot as another failed raid left it wondering if insider information was giving it away, this being the case as high up in poplar trees Starlings are ever nervous and often spot him well before a fly/drive through meal can be collected.

This Sparrowhawk I think is a young Male due to its browness and mainly it's size but I don't mind if someone has another view? 

I shall keep my eyes open to see if it's success rate improves any!