Winter of woe as birds fight to survive

THE cold weather has had a big impact on the bird life where I live.

The most exciting event was a record of a species that I have never seen in my garden before.

I got up one morning and there was a small bird hopping about in a snow covered shrub outside the window. There was some condensation on the inside of the glass so I didn’t have a very good view and I first assumed it was a male chaffinch. But it seemed to be darker above and paler below than a chaffinch so I went to get a better look.