They’ve melted away not – perhaps they realised that lockdown number three was coming. Here are a few snowmen I noticed on my walks in the past few days, and one snow dog for variety.
Snail trails, frosted
Snail (or perhaps slug) trails on a window pane formed the nucleus for frost to crystallise on a winter morning recently.
Birds feeding, snowy ground
Snow lying after Christmas; bird feeders busier than ever. A dunnock spends some time eating sunflower hearts. Magpies and wood pigeons on the ground, gathering the grain spilled from the feeders by smaller birds.
Chaffinch on snowy ground
Snow after Christmas, then lying for several days. A male chaffinch gathering up seed fallen from a feeder. As far as I know, this was the first visit to the garden by a chaffinch in the whole year.
December flowering rhododendron
Rhododendron bush by one of the entrances to West Park, starting flowering in late December. The bush flowers early every year.
Collared earth star, Penn Road
Collared earth star growing outside one of the car dealerships on Penn Road. The central hole is where spores spurt from the fungus, powered by raindrops landing on its surface. The dark smudges near the hole are spores which didn’t dispeerse.
