I forgot to replenish the feeders this week so wasn’t expecting to see many birds. Pleasantly surprised therefore when the usual visitors were joined by a lesser redpoll on the nyger seed and what looked very much like a waxwing on the beech tree at the top of the lane. The BTO have had a recent report of a waxwing less that half a mile away so its not impossible, particularly if the migration season is running late this year. It was good to see the goldfinches feeding from the nyger seed, having ignored them all winter.

The house sparrows have nested above the burglar alarm on Springhill house and I think the goldfinches are nesting in the top of the conifer in Sunset View’s garden. Meanwhile the nest box remains persistently empty.

Orange algae Trentepohlia (abietina?) noticed on an osier in the paddock/New Croft meadow. The white patches might be Athelia arachnoidea, a fungal pathogen.