Flyladyphotography By Wendy Cooper

  Well over the past couple of months, chances to go a wandering have been somewhat hampered by the weather, with very strong winds and a considerable number of very wet weekends...  To say that natur e is somewhat confu sed, would be an understatement, for most of January and into February it was quite mild for the time of year, with only a few cold snaps recently occurring.     Fortunately, there have been a few bright sunny, if somewhat blustery days, so chores abandoned, boots on, camera in hand and well wrapped up, out I went for a few tours of my local patch.  All of the following was observed during January and February.   One of the first things I noticed when walking through the top part of the woodland, was the emergence of the fungi I had sought during the autumn.  'Turkey Tail' brackets, small clumps of toadstools on mossy logs, blooms of resupinate fungi, slime molds and plenty of Jelly Ears appeared.  Many of the toadstools would...

  Well it's that time of year again, so I filled up the bird feeders and settled myself down in the garden (well wrapped up, it was nice and sunny but with a very chilly breeze) for an hour to see who would pop by for a snack.   All through the winter and definitely when it is very cold, I keep the bird feeders well stocked with seed, kibbled peanuts and sunflower hearts, as well as suet balls; as a result of this, there are quite a few regular visitors to my garden and very few leftovers! The hour started with one of a pair of Collared Doves who often come in and perch on the nectarine tree together. These usually go for the seed or whatever I have put in the little trays on the feeding pole, today it was sunflowers and chopped peanuts. The doves, together with the Woodpigeons, nearly always feed from there, although today, the pigeons were staying on the fence until I was indoors, when they came down and had a good peck about.  The feeding pole is always at a rath...

  Well as 2015 draws to a close, I was having a browse through my Nature Diary and thought I'd share some of my favourite moments.  For me, it has been an exciting year, with quite a few sightings of creatures I have not seen before, or of moments of watching old favourites and as I learn more about the natural world, having more appreciation and wonderment at seeing them.   We start off back in January, when we had a day out at RSPB Lakenheath.  We'd been there briefly before, but decided to have a 'proper' walk round.  It was a bright, but chilly afternoon with plenty about to see, from Reed Buntings up clo se and sunbathing outside the visitor centre, to a far off view of the Cranes, however the highlight of the afternoon were our first ever sightings of Bearded Reedlings.  These tiny birds live in reedbeds and are extremely agile amongst the reeds, feeding on seeds and insects and were very busy that afternoon, feeding up against the cold.  Beard...