Luckily for the birds, I tossed some suet balls studded with seeds into my shopping basket a few days before the storm. The birds are for the most part mousy brown sparrows, though there are some lovely yellow and blue masked tits(?) and some tiny red breasted robins too. Peaches spent the whole day in front of the window, trembling with excitement.

On my way down to collect the milk this evening, a ferret slinked across the road. The birds have to be pretty vigilent around here in winter. Foxes and badgers also hunt at night.