#12DaysWild

 I knew the post-Christmas period was going to be difficult, having been only able to meet family for such a  short time, so I'd planned ahead for a variety of things to occupy my thoughts.

First up was the Wildlife Trusts' 12 Days Wild initiative. Like the longer summer-based version, it encourages people to get outside,  make 'wild art', take notice of wildlife, and perhaps help them in some way.

Obviously summer is a more appealing time to get outside, but, from rushing out in my dressing gown to break the ice on the bird bath on frosty mornings to filling seed feeders, there are still things that can be done - I even made a tiny snowman!

Since Christmas the weather has been clearer but much colder, with spectacular sunsets. Some evenings I've been tempted out for a walk, some I've just looked from the warmth of home.

There are always regular avian visitors to the garden - robins, an occasional blackbird, a flock of long-tailed tits, and the resident pigeons - but the cold weather has brought more to the garden - half a dozen blackbirds feasting on rowanberries, both blue- and great- tits, a couple of goldfinches, and a flock of small birds high in the bare branches of a wild cherry which I couldn't identify.

We've missed most of the snow that's covered the rest of the country, both north and south of us, but enough fell one day to cover the lawn - it didn't last long though. 

One day we took a muddy, icy, slippery walk to the wood where I spotted hazel catkins opening (I also thought I'd seen a fox, but that turned about to be a spaniel chasing about) but for the most part I've spent these 12 days at home, checking on the Christmas roses, and the shoots of daffodils and snowdrops.

 I know these aren't strictly speaking 'wild' but snowdrops particularly mark the end of winter, so I'm eager to see them appear each year. I've decided this time to lift a few bulbs and fill some pots to bring some spring cheerfulness to my windowsills early.