Fog, thaw and birds

Today's sound has been the constant drip, drip of thawing snow. Even though it has snowed on and off all day, and the moorland was shrouded in white freezing fog, under the trees it is pocked with the drip marks from the thawing snow above.

Risedale Beck is very low, possibly because the water is all caught up in the snow and ice. When the thaw starts in earnest we shall expect a lot of icy floodwater to fill it up.

The birds are flocking to our feeders. The usual suspects: Brambling, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Robin and Long-tailed Tit were all seen today in the back garden, along with a Sparrowhawk on the lookout for an easy meal!