Barn Owls Suffer

The BTO now inform us that following last months severe weather over one hundred Barn Owls have been recovered dead, twice the number that would have been expected in a normal period of snowy weather. These of course are ones that have been found so there will be many times that number still lying out there. The photo above shows the river Hodder in Bowland on Christmas Eve and as you can see it is completely frozen. As I film Kingfishers and Dippers on the river it remains to be seen whether any have managed to survive.

Whilst over at Bolton during the week I came across a flock of one hundred Waxwings. It was of course impossible to drive past without spending half an hour watching them. There were few berries around so they will be moving on soon.

On Hopwood on the twenty first of January two Woodcock were present plus a Green Woodpecker trying to find ants. A visit to Dovestones produced good views of Siskins and at least half a dozen Bramblings.

During the week the garden has been exceptional with twenty or more species recorded feeding on four consecutive days. Willow Tit, Nuthatch, Song Thrush and Long Tailed Tits have been the highlights.