A Negative Day

Woke up to another colder than usual day for mid December here. As the readings (stored on the Wunderground web site) from my new weather station show it never reached the dizzy height of 0C all day - up to the time of writing:



My old weather station was starting to become unreliable so I invested in a new one which I installed a few days ago when the temperature was better at +3C. The indoor readout is quite spectacular:



A large display, bright and clear, readable from anywhere in the room as it is hung on the wall. It comes with the outdoor sensors as usual but also has an extra module which I have in the unheated conservatory to show temperature and humidity in there. The only reading which needs adjusting is the air pressure. That is a bit fiddly to set on this display.

I didn't really want to get out of bed this morning but eventually surfaced to the winter wonderland. Looking at some of the greenery you would be forgiven for thinking it had been snowing



but it is just days of accumulated frost building up on everything. As the ice in the bird baths is now too thick to remove easily yesterday I put out a large plant-pot saucer filled with fresh water. This morning the ice in it was 10mm thick but I managed to remove it and refill with water. The Pied Wagtail was one of the first to take advantage. That was at 9 a.m.. By midday it was frozen solid again and needed refilling.



It has been spending most of each day in the garden. As it will only search for food at ground level I scatter some seed on the grass for it to find. There appears to be a possibility we may have some snow tomorrow, Wednesday.

Misty, Icy Weather

Temperature dropped to -5.3C at one point in the early hours of the day with freezing fog. It has stayed below 0C all day with a cold mist. The area looks as though Nature has added its own Christmas decorations to everything.







I don't think the spider webs will be catching much ..



It always surprises me that this is the time of year the corkscrew Hazel starts to produce its catkins ready to open when Spring warmth returns.





Some shots were a bit hurried as my fingers were freezing but at least there was no snow, yet, so walking about was easy.

Magpies Bathing

There was a thin layer of water over a thick layer of ice in the bird bath but that didn't deter



the three regular Magpie visitors from having their daily shower. The Pied Wagtail spent several hours in the garden today.

Pied Wagtail Returns

Today I set up the camcorder ready for any interesting visitors to the bird feeders. After a night where the temperature dipped down to -3C there seemed to be far fewer than yesterday. One which did return for another quick visit was



the Pied Wagtail. I was ready for it this time. It was quite bossy and kept chasing the local House Sparrows away from where it wanted to feed.

Busy Bird Feeders

As the weather has been so cold, yesterday and today the bird feeders have been in great demand. Along with the usual small birds I counted four Rooks, three Magpies, several Crows and a couple of Jackdaws. One which took me by surprise was a fleeting visit from a



Pied Wagtail. Managed to grab a few hurried stills but as soon as I started to set up the camcorder it flew away. I have often seen them in nearby grassy areas but I don't remember seeing one in my garden before today. I always have a smile at the antics of the Starlings. I emptied all the ice out of a bird bath and refilled with water. Within a few minutes the Starlings were having a good old splash around in spite of it being all of 1C out there.

Monday Mystery - Answer

Last week's mystery photo ...



proved to be a really difficult one to identify. Ellen D. was the only person to get it correct.



Yes. I had snapped the top view of a battery.
I think I will make that the last one for this year. I've run out of inspiration for now. Maybe I will find a different way of making mystery photos in the New Year. Thank you to all who have kept following this through the year. Look forward to seeing what I can come up with in 2023.

In other news - a few days ago a Blue Tit investigated the camera nest box. Unfortunately it was a dull day and the video wasn't very good. Bird feeders are busier again after several weeks of very little bird traffic. There seem to be more corvids than usual here. Crows, Magpies and Jackdaws but no Rooks as yet, plus the usual squabbling brat pack (Starlings).

Monday Mystery

Last week I showed



Well done to Ragged Robin, Ellen D. and Kev Scott who gave the correct answer. Yes it was



a tape measure. Thank you to all who had a go. I'm at a bit of a loss for an object this week so I opted for another Circular Studio pattern made using a photo of a single object.



If you would like to guess what was used please leave it in the comments. They will be revealed, with the answer, next Monday.