Chaffinch batttle

Winter's certainly set in across the country, and although we have no snow here, the cold temperatures are having an effect on the garden birds. This morning there was a heron sitting on one of our apple trees, surveying the scene. They only tend to visit when the weather gets cold, frequently hunting for frogs hibernating at the bottom of our ponds.

Many years ago we kept guinea-pigs in large open-topped runs, and were mystified when babies started to disappear (we knew it wasn't a fox as only one would go at a time). Then one morning we saw a heron on the top of the hutch waiting, and realised what had been going on. Needless to say, we quickly re-designed the runs!

The garden is full of chaffinches and greenfinches. It's very hard to keep track of them, but I counted fourteen chaffinches on the branches of our old pear tree, waiting for their turn at the sunflower seeds. The greenfinches, which are slightly larger, have also decided to use the same feeder and try to keep the chaffinches away. With this number of birds around it's not surprising things get a bit fraught at times!

Thanks to everyone who commented on my heron yesterday - I was surprised and thrilled that it reached the Spotlight page!