Looking out

A still January day had me in its grip. It is very cold and still and there was no excuse to say indoors. I ventured out to de-frost the bird baths; get in some coal; visit the garden to capture the mood in photographs; put kitchen waste in appropriate bin; drive to shop for provisions - all totalling about an hour. It hasn't been a dull day but without noticeable sunlight, it has felt like being frozen in time. I noticed that it was still light at 5.00pm, which means that Spring is on the way.

Images are such a straightforward way of capturing the day, although it is challenging having to choose just the one. I could allow myself the luxury of more than one per day, but I relish having to whittle it down to one. It's a pity that you can't hear the birds singing in the above trees, which they were, but I'll try capturing this in a video and see how it works. I photographed a buzzard in the tree, where it usually sits, right at the bottom of the garden but it was a long way off and too small to notice. There's a lot going on in the garden in January, and yesterday I looked out of a window and watched a little group of Long-tailed Tits. The day before, I watched a pretty fox with a whitish face, from one of the upstairs windows. Now that we have begun feeding the birds since getting back from Down Under, close to the house activities are getting back to normal. Great spotted woodpecker and nuthatch were both seen today.