Monday 22 December 2014
Mild and Windy Weather Continues
Monday came very close to being our mildest December day as the temperature managed to make it to 14.0°C. As it turned out it was our mildest December day since Boxing Day in 2011 when the temperature managed 14.2°C.
It did manage to produce the mildest average temperature for December though as the overnight temperature only fell back to 11.7°C giving a daily average of 12.6°C just above the previous highest of 12.3°C on that Boxing Day in 2011.
The wind continued to blow and December 2014 has easily become the windiest December of the last few years.
The wind resulted in lots of flights from Leeds and Bradford Airport being diverted to other airports around the country. This flight from London Heathrow attempted a landing before aborting the attempt and heading off to Manchester.
Tuesday 23 December 2014
Christmas Vegetables
Tuesday was another very mild December day, at least the strong to gale force winds of the last week abated to produce just a very breezy day. The rain was just about holding off so we decided on a trip to the plot to harvest some vegetables for Christmas dinner.
After a few years of having a complete crop failure with sprouts we’ve grown this variety called Crispus, a club root resistant type, for the last couple of years with much better results.
We also managed to harvest a few more seasonal vegetables too which looked pretty good once they’d had a quick wash. The savoy at the top of the picture is Resolution another first for us this year. We’re hoping that this variety along with a variety called Wintessa are going to give us savoys to harvest over the next couple of months.
Thursday 25 December 2014
More Like December
Christmas Day turned out bright and sunny but the milder above average December temperatures disappeared to be replaced by values more associated with the end of December. The Christmas day high was 7.7°C.
Boxing day has started off cold over the UK as the temperatures at 08:30 show on the map below.
Rain snow and sleet is already approaching Ireland, Wales and the West Country and the Met Office have a snow warning in force for parts of the UK.
We might just be in this warning area on its north eastern limits. The forecast is for the colder weather to continue for the remainder of the month.
Friday 26 December 2014
A Little Bit of White Stuff
As forecast we got a little bit of snow on Boxing day. It began as light rain in the late afternoon and turned into light snow after dark.
The photo above was taken around 20:00 on Friday night. There was still a little snow falling but not very much.
This is how the greenhouse looked on Saturday morning as the winter sunshine got to work melting the snow on the greenhouse roof. In the end we didn’t get very much. There was just about enough to cover the ground but certainly we didn’t have a heavy snowfall.
It’s been cold enough overnight to freeze the snow and our side road is covered with a mixture of snow and ice. Cars make a wonderful crunching noise as they travel over the frozen surface. The real pity is it snowed on Boxing day as of course a day earlier would have given us a white Christmas.
Saturday 27 December 2014
No More Snow but Cold
After the snow of Boxing Day Saturday wasn’t too bad a day with some long spells of wintry sunshine but it remained cold all day with the temperature only managing a high of 3.8°C.
On Saturday morning I took a photo of the greenhouse with snow on the roof. The sun was shining and I thought I’d better get a picture before the sunshine thawed the snow and ice. As it turns out I needn’t have been in such a rush as despite the sunshine nothing too much in the way of melting took place and on Sunday morning the greenhouse roof was still mostly covered in snow and ice.
As you can see nothing much has thawed and Sunday morning is another lovely sunny winter’s morning.
I noticed one of our blackbirds attempting to break the ice on our birdbath to get a drink.
The frost had made some wonderful patterns in the water and it seemed a shame to destroy them by adding some hot water but the birds welfare takes precedence.
The ice patterns disappeared with the addition of a kettle full of boiling water. I’m not sure how long the water will remain ice free as the temperature remains around 0°C. I may be out with the kettle of hot water again today.
Sunday 28 December 2014
Wentworth Castle -
Sunday morning was bright and sunny after a bitterly cold night with the temperature falling to -
We decided on a visit to Wentworth Castle to see the deer being fed. Between Christmas and the New Year the deer are treated to some extra food to tempt them into coming close to the fence where they can be watched at close quarters.
It’s only a 14 mile trip to Wentworth Castle but we found a different world when we got there.
Rather than just the light covering of snow we’d had at home there was a good few inches making the parkland look very scenic.
As expected the deer came alongside the fence to feed providing some excellent photographic opportunities.
After a walk around the parkland we were ready for a hot cup of coffee in the cafe.
I also managed to take a little bit of video too which you can watch below.
We’ve also added our photographs to our Zenfolio portfolio which can be found here.
Monday 29 December 2014
How Cold?
I keep seeing and hearing about it being the coldest day or night of the year so far but to be honest whilst it’s been cold and frosty in Ossett the thermometer hasn’t plunged all that low on a night. Then to be fair it hasn’t risen very high through the day either.
We’ve certainly had a cold snap over the last few days with the temperature struggling to get above 5°C. The coldest night during this spell was on 29 December with a low of -
The sunny mornings have given me a chance to try to photograph our female blackbird who is nearly always first onto the bird table. She’s prepared to perch in the magnolia tree and get very close to me but should I make eye contact she moves further away.
Balancing some bird food a camera and trying not to look at the subject you want a photograph of is a bit tricky. These are my best two pictures to date. I haven’t spent too long outside trying to get the best pictures as for one thing it’s been pretty cold first thing on a morning and Mrs blackbird is fairly keen to get her breakfast.
Tuesday 30 December 2014
A Photographer’s Tale
Tuesday was another lovely sunny but cold winter’s day.
Not wanting to waste the weather, after lunch we set off for RSPB Fairburn Ings. We weren’t expecting lots of exciting birds but it’s a good walk to the far end of the reserve from the visitors’ centre. It was cold and sunny but the overnight frost hadn’t melted leaving some of the paths white and icy.
Lots of the lakes were still iced over leaving the birds to walk on water.
As we made our way to the far end of the reserve, we stopped off a couple of times to sample the viewing from the hides. On the main lake there was a little ice free water in the middle and most of the birds had congregated in this area of unfrozen water. At the end of the reserve as I looked over the lake an unmistakably flash of orange and blue skimmed along the water and into some trees. It was so fast I didn’t get chance to take a picture. After a few minutes in the hide at the end of the reserve we decided to head back to the visitor centre.
As we walked we had a little chat about me spotting the kingfisher. Had I really seen one? That sort of thing. I knew roughly where the kingfisher had flown to but didn’t really expect to see it again. Then I spotted it perched in a tree and as I began to explain to Sue where it was it took flight and headed off further down the small stream. We headed after it and soon spotted it again in good Kingfisher pose but in a very poorly lit spot. Camera at the ready I looked into the viewfinder and all I could see was a black screen. I checked to see if the lens cap was on but it wasn’t. I switched the camera on and off. No difference just a black screen. The battery was dead and by now the kingfisher had disappeared. I swapped the dead camera battery for a spare but couldn’t believe the battery had died at such a critical time.
As we headed back to the visitor centre the sun was starting to set. As we approached the “Kingfisher screen” where on all our visits to the reserve we have never ever seen a kingfisher one of the RSPB wardens whispered as loudly as he dared that there was a kingfisher. I was now glad I had a spare camera battery.
Well at least I got a photo this time. The tree branch is nicely in focus but that’s not exactly what I wanted. We started a discussion with the warden about how we never saw a kingfisher at this spot when another or maybe the same one appeared by the water marker post. I was a little more prepared this time and managed a sort of half decent shot of a kingfisher.
Notice that the kingfisher has chosen not to use the ready made kingfisher post which you can just see part of in the top right hand corner of the photo.
Having failed completely to get any sightings let alone photos of a kingfisher here before this year we’ve had a pretty good year for spotting and photographing this spectacular little bird in 2014.
Contrary to the forecaster’s predictions the early hours of New Year’s Eve produced our coldest night of the current cold snap. The temperature fell to -