First Snow of 2016

Early on Sunday morning, under the cover of darkness, a light dusting of snow fell across Paddock Wood, to brighten the early morning scene, as I looked out of the window.

The flat, featureless, cloud held, but no more flakes fell and so by midday the white stuff had all but completely melted away.  It's a snow front from the east, or north east, flowing from the continent, or off North Sea ,which ususally brings the most snow to these parts. However, this particular band of snow had moved across the country from the north and so, as so often happens when the snow comes from this direction, there was little snow left to descend from the sky by the time if reached Paddock Wood.

In the cold, birds flocked to my feeders, with blackbirds, wood pigeons, starlings and collard doves being the most prominent. A robin and the odd chaffinch were also seen, but not any of the usual blue tits or great tits. I think they don't really like the cheap bird seed mix I bought from Aldi, maybe I need to change it?

After a mild start to the year, it has been much colder for the last 6-7 days. Tonight is predicted to be the coldest of the winter so far, with a minimum temperature of around -3c forecast for nearby Tonbridge, so I suspect it will  be a degree or two lower in Paddock Wood. Not overly cold, compared to winters of past, but enough to encourage more birds to flock in from the countryside & seek warmth and food in the town. By the end of the week slightly warmer conditions are expected to arrive, but we will have to see.