A quiet weekend

With one thing and another I was confined to barracks this weekend, and to be honest I'm not a big fan of freezing, so maybe not a bad thing! Birding was confined to looking out of the window, but actually I don't mind that too much. It does give me a chance to see at close quarters two red listed species feeding in the garden ( for a definition of what red listing means, see link below). House Sparrow and Starling are the predominant species, and both give us good views as they squabble over the sunflower hearts and other treats we put out. Other visitors this weekend included Pied Wagtail and Blackbird, and a fly past of a pair of Mute Swans. Part of Saturday was taken up preparing a food parcel for my daughter. She can't seem to make bolognese sauce "as good as papa makes" so I delivered a pan full to her, frozen into portions that should keep her going for a few weeks. The reason for mentioning her is to link to today's picture. When she was younger we used to visit Martin Mere and she always loved listening to the "wooooo" of the Eider Ducks outside the visitors centre, so this picture's for you Beth :-)

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/status_explained.aspx