We had a visit from a sparrowhawk yesterday and witnessed at very close range how cunning and desperate they can be.  It spotted a philadephus bush which is home to a good many sparrows and whipped round it time and time again like it was trying to hypnotise the sparrows inside.  The sparrows held tight though and after 15 minutes the sparrowhawk left empty handed. 

At this time of year when small garden birds are reckying their nesting places, its good to see that a simple bush can provide life saving protection.  Although it did mean of course that the sparrowhawk had to go without any supper.

Seeing the blackbirds hopping around on our frozen lawn its difficult to imagine that the nest building season is about to begin.  But it is so its time to start thinking about cleaning out old nest boxes and hanging new ones.  This is the time when birds start scouting out prospective nesting places so the sooner your get your new bird box up the more likely you are to have it used this year.

Most vegetables die off at the first sight of cold weather.  There are some though that seem to thrive in it, like cavelo nero.  A light dusting of snow makes it look even more appetising than normal.