Beautiful view of a nuthatch

My last post was something of a rant, I've calmed down now and this time have something nice to write about. The back of my cottage directly overlooks a neighbour's garden, the nearest part of which she has planted as an orchard. At the moment the local blackbirds are feasting on the windfalls she has left for them and sometimes tits turn up to poke around in the apple trees for the minute insects they love. There are usually one or two finches that seem to keep the tits company. But what was especially pleasing this week was the sight of a nuthatch joining the menagerie.

I'm just looking at my 'Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds' and under Nuthatch it states: "Flocking. Sometimes accompanies winter foraging parties of tits and goldcrests". H'm, interesting stuff! Although it didn't hang around for long it was within about six feet of the kitchen window so I was very pleased to be able to get such a splendid view. I have to say that I'm no expert ornithologist, I just enjoy seeing them around. Not just birds but all forms of wildlife it has to be said.

I've never felt the urge to drive a hundred miles to see some rare vagrant that has been blown of course so that I can tick it off. Good sightings of relatively common species does me just fine. The view of the nuthatch emphasised just how much chunkier it looked than the tits that were fluttering around nearby. This excellent sighting made my day.

Violets and a snowdrop seen on walk

The weather being reasonably settled and my needing both vegetables and eggs, obtainable from a roadside stall, led a friend and myself to go on a four to five mile walk this morning. We had another motive as this particular route would take us past a favoured spot for violets near Calstock Church and also by a garden where we normally see quite a profusion of snowdrops at the edge of the lawn. I'm pleased to say that we weren't disappointed there being several violets out but with many more to come. As to the garden with the snowdrops there were plenty of bulbs showing above ground with one of them actually in flower! Not too bad for the end of December.

Instead of coming straight home from Calstock we made a slight diversion to see how well the daffodils were coming on in the Danescombe Valley. Much too early for those to be out but we were gladdened to see many clumps of these magical flowers well above the surface. Hogweed and red campion were two species that we noticed in flower. We also had an excellent sighting of a favourite bird - the nuthatch, and heard a number of birds singing.

It's great to see signs of Spring so soon after the shortest day.