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Image © Roger Butterfield, 2009. All rights reserved.
This wild robin is incredibly trusting. He seems quite content to pose for photographs, singing away to himself on a fence post - provided I serve up a mealworm every few minutes.
If only all birds were so cooperative!
Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.
To mark the occasion, a wide variety of events are being held across the UK and beyond.
If you want to know more about Darwin's life and works, there are loads of really useful resources available on the 'net. The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online has text and images from many of his publication and private papers, plus an account of how the 100th anniversary of his birth was celebrated.
I haven't yet had an opportunity to visit the Darwin - Big Idea Big Exhibition at the Natural History Museum, but it looks great.
You can leave a birthday message for Darwin here. Don't forget to order your free Tree of Life poster and buy a set of Darwin Stamps.
Wintry weather has dominated the headlines for much of the past week. Snow has been unusually widespread across the UK - even the Isles of Scilly got a dusting.
Thankfully, the snowfall wasn’t particularly severe in our neck of the woods - about 12cm according to the Weston Park Weather Station - but it was still enough to cause transport chaos, school closures, etc.
On the positive side, the snow provided plenty of opportunities for photography. I was able get out and capture some winter landscapes in the countryside on Sheffield's western fringes.
Closer to home, the harsh weather brought a variety of birds to the feeding station outside our kitchen window. The most frequent visitors were blackbirds, robins, blue tits and a solitary wren (which, size for size, must have the biggest appetite).
More exotic visitors included several bullfinches. Although we see these colourful birds in our garden fairly often, they do not normally venture so close to the house.
Early on Tuesday morning I spotted a tiny wood mouse nibbling a seed under the bird feeders. I came across the tracks of several other wild mammals in the snow whilst I was out and about in the countryside. Badgers seem to have been particularly active, digging snuffle holes in the frozen ground. I also found a possible set of roe deer tracks near Agden Reservoir - I must keep an eye out for other signs of deer activity around there.
