The Other Side

Well!  We have emerged, unscathed on the other side of Christmas and with the snow almost all gone and the temperature now struggling a few degrees above freezing, things have started to return to 'normal'.
Not much in the way of walks over the festive period, so not many pictures to post.  So, here are just a few, taken from our front window, in the gloom, of the Long-tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus) which have made the feeders there, a regular visiting place.

We have counted nine of these tiny birds at any one time although only eight appeared here (not good news as they suffer terribly in this cold weather).  Weighing in at only a quarter of an ounce each, they are very sociable and huddle together in numbers to keep warm during the Winter months.

Not actually a member of the Tit family (Paridae), they are more closely related to the Babbler family of birds (Timaliidae) and are the only representative of that family to be found in Britain.  Looking like a feather-covered ball-and-stick, they are so tiny, so cute and lovable, it's a wonder to imagine how something so small and vulnerable, manage to survive in the kind of weather we have experienced lately.