After a sudden drop in activity before Christmas things seem to be back to normal now. Both sunflower heart and fat levels are falling rapidly in the feeders again and the flock of goldfinches is back. A pair of bullfinches have been regulars for the last week or two and a nuthatch drops by occasionally. A brief visit to the back garden by a great spotted woodpecker has added to the species count.
In the front garden we are seeing far less activity and the fat feeder on the quince tree has only been replenished once this season. I suspect that for some reason we aren't getting the woodpeckers at the front of the houses at the moment as they have been heavy consumers of fat in the past.
The arable fields between Ley Hill and Latimer have been harvested over the last couple of days. This morning I saw a group of yellowhammers in the middle of the road by a field gate. From the look of things they were eating spilled grain. Instead of flying into the hedgerow they flew away from me along the road at windscreen height. I haven't seen much else recently apart from a distant glimpse of a partridge and the occasional red kite.
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