Male siskin

Not a very good photograph, but I wanted to include it as a record shot. The bird feeders have been busy all day, mostly with chaffinches and greenfinches. Yesterday I thought I saw a siskin, but it was quite distant and I couldn't be sure. Today a pair of siskins visited the feeder containing hulled sunflower seeds several times and I had some good views from my desk at the far end of the room. But they were very skittish and every time I approached with the camera they disappeared. This shot was finally achieved by crawling across the floor to my camera, which was positioned on the table, and then standing up very slowly till I could just get a shot through the double glazing. The glass and appalling light levels meant that only a couple of images were any good - this is definitely my favourite as it shows the very smart black cap so well.

Otherwise it was a fairly ordinary day - early morning start, report writing, dog walking - the usual. But I was delighted to find that my new eating habits are bearing fruit already, and I seem to have lost about five pounds :) And a very exciting parcel arrived! But just at the moment I haven't got time to deal with it, as another deadline looms...I'm sure all will be revealed in due course.