Hard times

25 Jan 2013 Reed Bunting by Dave Middleman

The recent freezing temperatures – and snow in many areas – have made it tough for many bird species to find food, particularly ground-feeders. As is always the case in such conditions, the importance of gardens as a food resource increases markedly. From our point of view hard weather provides a good chance to see what are – for most of us – unusual garden visitors, such as Reed Bunting, Brambling and even Woodcock. It will be very interesting to see how the results of the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch over the weekend 26–27 January reflect the conditions.



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