GARDEN BIRDS.

Thought I better do a post if only to show I'm still around.There are two reasons for not posting for ages.The first is that now I am in my eighties I no longer can handle the cold wet winter weather so now do not enjoy going out birding.Sitting in a hide waiting for a bird to show would probably finish me off.

The second reason is my health is not so good.I cannot really complain as in all my years I can only remember needing to go to hospital once and then for less than an hour. Early in November some symptoms appeared and after a visit to the docs and a quick blood test I was told I had a blocked bile duct. If this is caused by gall stones no problem if not it's caused by a tumour. 

In the next few days I had a ultrasound scan (easy and the nurse was very pretty) a Cat scan ( not nice specially when the injection flows round your veins) a MRI scan (very noisy even wearing headphones). Then to cap it all a few days later I was enrolled as a Day patient and had an endoscopy ( not pleasant but your are put out).Here they put in a stent that diverts the bile flow round the tumour and gets rid of the symptoms which were very unpleasant. This has left me even more knackered and even less keen to get out there in the grim weather.

In order to prevent the camera from rusting up I have been trying to get shots of garden birds.Long gone are the days when I got Lesser Redpolls, Siskins, Bramblings, Winter Thrushes etc visiting but here are a few shots of what turns up now.The pics are not great but have been taken from inside a closed conservatory usually in dull conditions. 

My best visitor to the feeders have been for a while now a pair of Coal Tits but I have not seen them lately.However a new favourite has shown up recently this Black Cap. Over the years despite having been a regular visitor to local reserves the best shots I've taken of these has been in my back garden in the winter.

I have ventured out a few times but only when the weather has been sunny and then only visiting a few country spots in the car.Not had much luck as it appears to be very quiet out there even compared with a few years ago.Did get this Common Buzzard but it was a long way off  (two fields away)from the CP I was parked in in Earlswood.