If at first you don't succeed ...

... keep trying.  We have a pair of dunnocks who visit the garden regularly and although ground feeders one has been using the seed feeder.  The other one tried today but didn't quite know what to do.  He/she eyed it up from the acer, landed on the top and then back into the acer, which was repeated several times.  It then tried to stretch from the acer to the hole but no luck, and then tried the same at the top trying to reach and peck the plastic.  After about 10 minutes it somehow managed to land on the perching rings.

So far the weather has not been as bad as predicted but I was glad I didn't try my scheduled office day.  In fact the decision was made mid morning to put all the plants into safe holds and only essential people will be on site until the bad weather has passed.  In the extras you can see the back garden from 07:00 to 18:30 (there is 50 minutes difference between the bottom two, and the snow is certainly picking up now.  At the moment we still have the very dry snow, which is being blown around resulting from the "beast from the east", but in the South West that is now starting to meet the warm moist air from Portugal, named Emma by the Portuguese Met Office and resulting in a Red Weather Warning being issued.  Amber Weather Warnings are not that frequent, but Red is very rare (it signifies loss of life is highly likely) and we have now had two in 24 hours.  We may or may not get freezing rain later in the night, which is also a rare event.  More snow is forecast for tomorrow.

We also had a fieldfare in the garden but he stayed high in the tree preening and fluffing his feathers up.

Today is actually the first meteorological day of Spring and e-mails from the RSPB and WWT made me laugh!

Spring is on its way
Hello Amanda

After the long dark days of winter, nothing will lift the spirits quite like the arrival of spring. With blossom bursting into bloom and the love songs of birds filling the air, it’s the perfect time to head outside and breathe in the beauty of nature.

Enjoy a touch of Spring at WWT Slimbridge