We arrived, we put new food in the feeders and we set the telescope up.

Then we waited.

Four hours later I have only seen one bird through the telescope. It was a Great Tit, which gathered a beakful of seed and flew back to the hedge to eat. That was the only time I was quick enough: all other visits were so quick that by the time I bent to look through the eyepiece there was nothing to see.

After a while we started looking at things like the sheep in the field next door, though as they were all facing away from us it wasn’t a great view. After that we looked at trees, nitrogen tanks, fence posts and passing traffic.

It’s been a W H Davies sort of day – with lots of time available to stand and stare, Or sit and stare, to be precise.

The rest of the time has been spent in taking down Christmas decorations and eating biscuits. I won’t say which bit I preferred but have a guess. It hasn’t been the most industrious start to the year, particularly considering the amount of paperwork that has been building up for me, but I always like to get the decorations down in time for 12th Night. I’m not superstitious or anything, I just don’t see the point in Christmas decorations once Christmas is over. Anyway, a day with birds and biscuits can never be a bad day, even if you do nothing else.

Considering that my only resolution of the new year was to “be more industrious” this probably counts as a failure. If only I’d chosen “eat more biscuits”…