Home thoughts

Another freezing cold, crisp day. I had a busy morning's running errands then couldn't be bothered going out for a walk in the remaining sunlight.

For all the cold weather the signs of Spring are out there. The crows and magpies are either pairing up or renewing existing bonds, the collared doves are singing at dawn and the dunnocks are at it like knives in the blackcurrant bushes. 

I'm having trouble keeping up with the spadgers, as fast as I'm replenishing the fat balls they're being devoured. I've two feeding stations on the go, they've both got sunflower seed feeders and a suet block feeder, the big station between the rowan tree and the rambling roses also has a mesh feeder full of suet pellets and a fat ball feeder. The station by the living room had a fat ball feeder but the squirrels ripped it to bits, the surviving one's a bit too robust for the buggers to demolish. I've given up on the nyger feeders, even when the goldfinches do come in they studiously ignore them.

• Black-headed gull 1
• Blackbird 2
• Blue tit 2
• Collared dove 1
• Dunnock 3
• Goldfinch 1
• House sparrow 25
• Jackdaw 1
• Magpie 1
• Robin 1
• Starling 3

It was so cold on the school playing field that there were only four gulls bothering to stop, one each of black-headed, common, herring and lesser black-back. A dozen magpies made a racket over by the netball courts.

There were more gulls bickering between the lampposts as I waited for the bus at Lostock Circle. In the end the four common gulls outgunned the three black-headed gulls and commandeered the prime spots by the chip shop ready for the lunchtime traffic.

The absence of small birds struck me while I was shopping in Urmston. Usually you'll hear or see at least a few spadgers or a robin near the station but they must all have been busy and I didn't linger long as there's no trains today. There were plenty enough pigeons and a couple of woodpigeons chased each other about the trees while a few black-headed gulls and common gulls flew overhead to who knows where.

I got back after doing my deliveries, had a late lunch and debated where to go for the afternoon walk and by the time I'd decided I wasn't sure I wanted to go for a walk it was too late to bother anyway. Motivation's a difficult thing this time of year: the weather and limited daylight hours don't provide a lot of leeway for drifting into going for a walk and all the annual targets that act as a goad in January are long since achieved by December. The rail strikes don't help but, to be honest, the unreliability of our train services doesn't act as a big incentive anyway.

The weather forecast is offering a dreich weekend, I'll see what I get round to doing with it.