Firstly, thank you to all who have emailed to tell me tales of the birds with character in their garden. Seems they are the same the whole world over!

Many have asked about the health of my “bald blackbird”, with winter starting to set in. The good news is he has grown more feathers up his neck and around his beak. The top of his head is still bald but the area of skin on view does not look so sore. Fingers crossed for him that he manages to grow even more. Before you write, I have already had plenty of suggestions about woolly hats etc.

Now is the time to really start to think about feeding our feathered friends on a regular basis. I leave cutting back my herbaceous borders until early spring which gives them plenty of time to root around for seeds and insects during the colder months. The berries are not lasting very long. The holly, which had more berries than ever before, has been attacked by pigeons. There were six together in there this morning going at them like crazy. Not my favourite birds, they cause so much damage in my garden whether it be eating or just lumbering through plants and flattening them.

If you have not been a bird feeder or backyard feeder what better time is there to begin feeding your garden birds.

By the east wall of the house I have a winter flowering jasmine showing off its yellow blooms and underneath it early summer flowering campanula. What a strange year it has been in the garden.