The unseasonal mild weather continued through the month but changed to colder temperatures in the last week, bringing sleet showers and frost. Another quiet winter month for recordings.
SIGHTINGS
Birds: Magpies, Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeons, Jays, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Heron, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Sparrowhawk, Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks, Song Thrushes, Siskins, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Wrens, Goldcrest, Nuthatches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Plants: Gorse in flower.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels.
A pair of Bullfinches which produced five young last Spring/Summer, are again active in their territory, visiting garden feeders along the Hazelwood fenceline. A sighting of a Goldcrest was very welcome, as few sightings were recorded last year when many were lost following a harsh spell of winter weather. Birds continue to night roost in the nest boxes on site. Any required repairs or replacement nesting boxes have been made during January.
