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There seems to be lots of talk about at the moment over whether spring has finally sprung. The sun is shining through my window and temperatures are warm enough to think twice about the woolly hat. Now, I don’t want to run the risk of being too early, but I think spring might, just might be here.

Taking a break from the workshop I was participating in yesterday, I thought I’d let it all sink in and take a lunchtime stroll though the reserve. The robins were singing, the sun was actually warm on my face, and even a few bees had ventured out. It feels like spring, I thought.

Jack’s pond was the destination, in search of the mysterious water shrew that had been seen there the week before. Many a lunch hour I spent there a couple of years ago, failing miserably to see this elusive little critter. Maybe the sun had brought him out in search of prey?

Well, my luck hasn’t changed! Still no sign. One day I tell myself, one day! However, it certainly wasn’t a wasted trip in spring sunshine. As a walked round the pond, straining to see if I could catch any glimpse of my shrew nemesis, what looked like a leaf moved in front of me.

Except it wasn’t a leaf, it was a comma butterfly! My first butterfly of the year. It’s quite a distinctive butterfly, with its ragged wings, which had briefly made it look leaf-like. Much like me, it had been tempted out into the spring air by a slight raise in temperature and the promise of a warm sun. Spring must be here!

Tired of shrew-spotting (or not), I watched the butterfly flutter about before it landed, wings open to warm itself after it’s long winter sleep. It didn’t want me getting too close, although it did try to land on my head on one occasion! But then I’d be grumpy if I’d spent all winter asleep and then a giant came looking at me!

So, butterflies and bees are out, the birds are just beginning to try out their vocal chords and I went to cricket nets at the weekend, yep, spring is just about here!

If you’ve had any good spring sightings, I’ve love to hear about them. Post a comment below, take a look at the forum, or if you’ve got any spring pictures, post them to our gallery.

You've probably heard about Google Street View, where you can take a 'virtual journey' and explore 360-degree images. But once you've looked up your house, checked who was down your street.and looked to see where your cat was, where else should you go?

The good news is that you can have a look at some beautiful RSPB nature reserves!

Admittedly, they aren't all quite as scenic as Balranald, pictured above. You can't see very much of The Lodge - you have to peer over the wall or peek down the drive. At Geltsdale, you can't see much further than the car park, and if you want to get any closer to see the fantastic numbers of gannets on Ailsa Craig, you're going to need to take a boat trip!

But just take a look at South Stack Cliffs on Anglesey... Wow! (there's even an ice-cream van in the car park, waiting for your custom). Haweswater looks pretty spectacular, as does Inversnaid. And do you fancy going for a walk at Lake Vyrnwy now?

All this admiring-from-afar is lovely, and great fun, but when it comes down to it, there's nothing like the real thing. So why not do what these people at the Hayle Estuary, and these folk who've stopped for a rest at Loch Garten are doing - get out there and see for yourself!

There's nothing like the real thing, so why not plan your next day out now?

• If you're browsing Street View and spot a lovely view, or even some wildlife, please leave us a comment!

This morning - grey, sleety and cold - I heard my first song thrush of the year as I drove to work. What a way to start the day. If I'd had time, I would have stopped to listen... it's one of my favourite bird songs.

Yesterday I heard a wisp of half-hearted blackbird song, coming from high up in a conifer. I couldn't see the singer, who must have been tucked away on a sheltered branch, but I heard him alright. There's no mistaking that rich sound, even if the bird wasn't giving it much welly.

After the dark, cold, quiet days of the Big Freeze (TM), things have turned around quickly and our birds are getting geared up for another breeding season - even if the weather is still far from ideal.

If you open a window, stand in your garden or walk to the shops, you can't fail to notice all the singing that's going on.

For example, here at the gardens in The Lodge, there's plenty to hear (and see). Blue tits twittering. great spotted woodpeckers chattering and chasing (and the males drumming on dead branches). Nuthatches chasing around and calling at the tops of their voices. Everywhere you go there are great tits teacher, teachering, and wrens, robins and dunnocks all trilling, singing and squeaking for all they're worth.

This frenzied activity isn't limited to little birds, either. Stock doves - prettier, neater cousins of the woodpigeon - are busy going ooooOOOOO, ooooOOOOO, oooOOOOO and looking for tree holes to nest in. And soon we'll see sparrowhawks displaying over the treetops, powering up and swooping down in a rollercoaster style.

Even birds which don't breed here - like the redwings which will be migrating back to Scandinavia and Russia in the near future - will be singing soon. 

And the cause of all this song and dance? It's the increase in daylight hours which has triggered off an surge of hormones, which makes the birds' gonads swell (inside, not outside).

So while it might be nice to imagine that birds are singing because they're feeling romantic and happy and it's spring and the sun's out, the truth is more mundane.

It's chemicals.

Oh well.

Regardless of the cause, now's the ideal time to enjoy birdsong - while you can actually see who's singing! There'll be more species singing come April and May, after all our migrants have arrived, but by then the trees have their leaves and seeing the singer is much more difficult.

February is also a good time to put up a nestbox - there are lots of birds out there which will be in the market for a nest site very soon. And why not pick up a box suitable for a family of robins, wrens or sparrows, instead of the traditional great or blue tits?

At home, there's not so much song but I have noticed dunnocks flirting in the bushes: lots of wing- and tail-flicking and chasing through the twigs. What have you noticed in your garden or out-and-about? Leave a comment and share!

Are you ready for Big Garden Birdwatch 2010? You can do your hour-long count this Saturday or Sunday (30-31 January), so there's not long to go now!

While it's important to remember that the Birdwatch isn't a competition - indeed, even if you see nothing we still want to hear about it! - it's nice to have some birds to watch. Otherwise the hour can drag a little.

You'll probably have some food out to encourage the birds to show their faces. But what's the best thing to offer? Where to put it? And how can you make sure the hour is fun for everyone involved? I've been quizzing my Web Team colleagues to see what they suggest.

What does Web Editor Mark recommend? Location, location, location is critical, he says:

'Put your food in the right place. If you have a small garden like me, then there will be a lot fewer birds if I put the food near the fence where people are coming and going all the time. Not so good for Big Garden Birdwatch!

'You can have the best food and feeders in the world, but it must be in the right position.'

Wise words, Mr Ward.

As Lucinda, Web Editor, points out, it's definitely a case of the more, the merrier when it comes to Big Garden Birdwatch:

'Surround yourself with people. Kids, grandparents, aunties, uncles. Anyone, really. With more eyes to spot the birds in your garden, and a chance to enjoy some relaxed time with your friends and family, you can't go wrong.

'Just make sure you have enough nibbles - for people and birds - to go round!'

I'll second that. And if you can find a willing person to keep you fuelled with cups of tea and biscuits while you do the counting, so much the better...

Kevin, the RSPB's Web Editorial Assistant, has been doing the Big Garden Birdwatch for years. But for 2010, he's bringing out the big guns:

'This year, the RSPB's buggy nibbles are the special tactic, hopefully drawing in some of Potton's resident, roosting pied wagtails. We've got more food out this year, so we'll see if we can get some more birds, maybe even one of the goldfinches which has been about.

'Apart from that, I'll be sitting watching with my bacon sarnie, with Sky Sports News on in the background probably.'

Kevin... you're supposed to be feeding the birds and looking out of the window, not at the telly!

But good work with the wagtails - it can be tricky to find a food that insect-eating birds will go for.

Jo (who works on the RSPB's award-winning Intranet) is going to adopt a different strategy:

'Me and my cat, Oscar, will be safely counting the birds through my dining room window!'

That sounds like a very good plan indeed...

As for me, I intend to do my Birdwatch fairly early on Saturday. The birds will be busy filling their faces to recover from what's forecast to be a cold night.

I'll probably go and top up the feeders as soon as I get up, and make sure everything's set for when I'm ready to start counting. By putting the food out early, I'll hopefully minimise the disturbance I cause, meaning plenty of birds will be busy feeding when I start.

A pair of binoculars can be handy for looking for birds in the corners of the garden, but they're certainly not essential. In past years, I've found that using them all the time means I don't spot all the birds scattered around. So I'd suggest a good look around the whole of the garden every so often.

Food-wise, I'll be sticking with some tried and trusted favourites: a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea.

Er, that's for me. The birds? They'll be getting black sunflower seeds, a fat cake thingy (very popular at the moment), some mixed seed, a scattering of porridge oats, perhaps a couple of apples and some water. I'm hoping that I'll see a great spotted woodpecker (which will make four years on the trot), a marsh tit or two (they usually avoid the garden during BGBW) and some house sparrows and starlings would be nice.

I can't wait!

What will you do?

Please leave a comment and tell us about your tips for attracting birds and enjoying Big Garden Birdwatch. Will it be your favourite robin, some special treats for the birds, Custard Creams or your favourite comfy armchair that make it a good one for you? 

The past few weeks have been tough. The weather's made our lives difficult, but it's been even tougher for our birds and wildlife. So it's a good job that we can do our bit to help.

I've been trudging up my snowy garden to feed the birds every morning - before feeding myself, of course! Even here in Bedfordshire it's been below zero for about a week, so it's a bit cold first thing but definitely worth it.

There's usually a robin waiting to receive its rations of porridge oats - at least five have been visiting! We don't normally see that many, so it must be the cold and hunger that's making them drop their guard.

Porridge oats make good bird food - they're fairly cheap and available in most supermarkets - and lots of birds eat them... starlings, blackbirds, dunnocks and even reed buntings, as I've found.

The fat balls and blocks that I've put out have gone down a storm with blue and great tits, and even a great spotted woodpecker one day. The chaffinches and greenfinches have gone for the black sunflower seeds and mixed seed, but a young male sparrowhawk which made a few unsuccessful raids had an appetite for other things... 

I've tried to keep some water available for my hungry flock, and melted a hole in the pond, but it's been tricky. Try floating a small ball in your birdbath which will bob around in the breeze and hopefully keep the water from freezing completely. Otherwise, go out with your kettle in the morning.

We've had more than 500 e-mails in the past week from people who've seen funny-looking birds in their gardens. Most of these turn out to be redwings or fieldfares, which migrate here from Scandinavia each winter. Normally they prefer to feed in fields, woods and hedgerows, but the snow and ice has forced them to look elsewhere.

If you have berries in your garden or some apples, you may well receive a visit from these pretty thrushes. Or if you'd like to, try putting out some apples and you might tempt them down... I've had no luck with that yet - it seems that carrion crows and jackdaws fly off with the fruit before anything else gets a look-in! 

I'm really jealous of my parents' garden. Not only do they have fieldfares scoffing their windfall apples, but a female blackcap came to bathe in their pond during my visit.

I've never had a winter blackcap in my garden, even though they're spending the cold months here in greater numbers. Normally, blackcaps would be expected to migrate to southern Europe or northern Africa, but the ones that come here in winter are from a population in southern Germany which may even evolve into a separate species!

Outside gardens, the RSPB even has measures in place to help bitterns survive the cold weather - frozen water means they can't catch the fish they need.

We've got loads of advice and tips on what and how to feed your garden birds. I shan't be putting out any fish around my pond, but I'd love to read about what's been visiting your garden, and what's on your garden bird menu!

Last month, Katie told us all about fat and why it is good for birds, so I thought I'd have a go at making some speedy bird cakes, and see how they go down with my garden visitors.

Using the recipe tucked away in our youth pages, it didn't take me long to make the cake and get it hanging in my garden.

It was certainly a well received treat - with a visiting flock of tits getting stuck in straight away, and my resident robin happy to stop off for an easy meal, too. A passing blackbird tried sitting on the cake, but it wobbled so much under his weight he had to hop off and could only look on as a couple of chaffinches flew in to investigate the seeds hidden in the lard.

All in all, I think this treat went down a storm with 'my birds' and I'll be making it again - I might even 'branch out' and make a nutty log next time, simply by drilling holes in some deadwood and smearing the mixture in the holes instead of putting it in a yoghurt pot.

But it isn't just the birds that benefit. If you start feeding the birds now, you'll more than likely build up a loyal bird following just in time for you to count them during your one hour Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of January!

Take a look at other food you can provide, or share your own feeding tips and recipes in the comments below.

We humans are constantly bombarded with messages that Fat Is Bad. It's less lard, more olive oil these days. And rightly so, much of the time. Now that many of us live rather sedentary lives, sitting around in heated offices and houses, fat isn't as important for us as it once was.
 
For birds, it's completely different. Fat is their saviour!
 
If you were to take a peek under your garden robin's feathers, you might be able to see how much fat it's carrying around. When birds are able to, they carry a bit of fat to use as 'fuel' during their day-to-day lives. It looks like a smear of butter under their pink, almost transclucent, skin.
 
Fat is what keeps birds going through the day and, more importantly, the night. A bird has to eat enough to make sure it has the energy it needs - not just for flying, running and singing, but also to keep itself alive overnight.

Keeping warm takes a considerable amount of energy, so heavier (fatter) birds are more likely to survive a cold snap. Birds weigh less in the mornings than in the evenings before they go to roost, because of the fat they 'burn' overnight.

Fat reserves can also see a bird through periods of bad weather when feeding is difficult or impossible, and migrating birds feed up before setting off.

Fat = energy

Even if a bird doesn't eat fatballs, it can convert its food into fat, whether it's scoffing apples, worms, insects, seeds or fish. So do healthy birds carry around as much fat as possible...?
 
A bird that eats a lot and builds up fat reserves is actually taking a risk. It'll be better equipped to keep itself warm, but eating more means more food-finding has to be done. That in itself takes energy, and more foraging can put a bird in harm's way, when otherwise it might be hiding safely in a tree or bush.

For this reason, birds in a good environment with plenty of food (like your garden) actually carry less fat than birds in poor habitat, because they don't need to.
 
A plump bird can also be hampered by its extra load when it comes to predators. Birds are always on the lookout for rivals and predators, every day of their lives. Those that don't stay alert get eaten... 

Weighing a few extra tenths of a gram may mean that a bird isn't quite as quick off the mark when a sparrowhawk comes calling, compared to its skinnier colleagues. So there's a careful balance to be had.
 
The good news is that wild birds don't get obese. They live high-energy lives, but by putting out food we give them a little more leeway.
 
How you can help

There are lots of different ways to help your garden birds. As well as putting out foods like seeds, peanuts and fat, you can also leave out fruit like apples - always a hit with thrushes and starlings. Don't forget that water is important, too, even in winter. And for birds like goldcrests that don't really come to feeders, plants like ivy can be really important - it's very attractive to insects, which make ideal goldcrest food.

You can get lots of helpful garden advice from our Homes for Wildlife project. Sign up, it's free!

What do your garden birds like eating?

Outside our window here at RSPB HQ, there's a massive pine tree. It's great for watching birds go about their business. Goldcrests hover among the needles, coal tits stash their sunflower seeds between the twigs, and sometimes there's even a nuthatch or a treecreeper wending its way up (or down) the rugged trunk.

And, of course, there are plenty of grey squirrels climbing around in the tree. I often think about how much fun it looks to climb that pine tree; there are long, curving branches which look like they'd be just great if you were a small, furry creature. In fact, we often see pairs of squirrels chasing each other up and down, round and round and round...

But enough daydreaming. We've just seen something astonishing!

For some reason, I found myself looking out of the window and into the tree. And there, clambering up the trunk - which must measure nearly five feet across - was something brown with a white belly. It took me a few seconds to process what I was seeing.

Not a grey squirrel.

Can't be a red squirrel!

Thin tail with a black tip...

'There's a stoat climbing up the tree!' I squawked.

I've seen stoats lots of times before: scampering across meadows, popping up from rabbit warrens and running along paths. But never up a tree.

Higher and higher the stoat climbed. It was a natural tree-climber - it scampered up just as easily as any squirrel. A small crowd gathered by my desk to watch the intrepid mammal. Eventually, it got about two-thirds of the way up the tree, explored the branches up there and decided to come down again.

'Hope we're not going to have to call the fire brigade,' I murmured. Not a chance. The stoat ran back down the trunk again - head first! - until it found one of the lovely curving branches which brought it down to a foot above the ground. From there, it peered down anxiously... and took a jump into the grass. And scurried off.

Apparently, it's not uncommon for stoats to climb trees, especially during the bird breeding season when they go in search of nests to raid. But I'm impressed by our stoat's climbing prowess and exploring spirit. I'll be keeping an eye out for it in future...

There’s definitely a chill in the air and the nights are blacker, but don’t be afraid to go outside this Halloween. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful things cropping up in the natural world that you won’t want to miss!

Fungi forays
 
It’s a great time of year for finding mushrooms and toadstools and other fantastic fungi. They come in a huge variety of shapes and colours, and grow in all kinds of places – in the grass, among the leaf litter, on trees. They're excellent subjects for photography too so make sure you carry your camera when you're out and about. You should be able to find some in your garden too. Check your lawn for little toadstools that sometimes just crop up overnight as if by magic.

Fungi have no green parts and don’t covert sunlight into energy using photosynthesis like plants. They get their nutrients from whatever they’re growing on, like roots and tree trunks and branches.

There are thousands of different species in Britain and many have great names. King Arthur’s Cakes, purple jellydisk, yellow stagshorn, shaggy ink cap, slimy webcap, fairy ring champignon and plums and custard are some of my favourites. Beechwood sickener certainly sounds like one to steer clear of. If only all wildlife was as imaginatively named as fungi!

There are all kinds of ancient superstitions – especially around toadstools. People thought toads sat on them and that fairies used them for umbrellas and danced on them.

Many are poisonous (meaning you have to be very careful if you decide to pick your own mushrooms from the wild) and so were a natural draw for witches and their potion making.

Spooky sounds

The hooting of tawny owls is a classic spine-tingling sound from horror films - even those filmed in parts of the world where tawnies aren’t found! You should be able to hear tawny owls calling at this time of year. Females answer the hooting males with a sharp ‘ke-vick’ to make you jump if you're walking past in the dark with your senses heightened!

Barn owls make a blood-curdling screech that would be right at home in a horror movie and foxes and muntjac deer can also startle you with their harsh barking calls.

You might hear mysterious hisses coming from the night sky too, but don’t worry, it’s just the sound of flocks of redwings arriving from Scandinavia.

Halloween specials

Halloween is often associated with orange and black so I’be been racking my brains to think or orange and black wildlife. Let me know if you think of any! There are certainly plenty of orange berries out there at the moment and these are the very things that bring all of our winter-visiting thrushes here: fieldfares and those redwings I’ve already mentioned.

And it wouldn’t be right to write a Halloween-themed blog without mentioning bats and spiders – those classic Halloween beasties.

Spider’s webs glistening with early morning dew and the dusk flights of bats are both worth wrapping up warm and getting outside to see at either end of the shortening days.

We've 17 species of bats in the UK and they'll be looking for places to hibernate in October and November because there isn't enough insect food for them in the cold weather. They need a cool place, like a tunnel, cave or building and actually slow down their breathing and heart rate. Their temperature drops when they are hibernating, so they use up very little energy.  You can help bats by putting up a bat box or two in your garden.

And if you’d like to be shown great wildlife by experts, why not check out our events pages or visit a nature reserve near you?

Here's a tip for tonight: go and stand outside in the dark, and listen. We're in the middle of that wonderful phenomenon that is bird migration.

This morning, a few local birdwatchers went to stand on a hill near RSPB HQ in Bedfordshire (yes, Bedfordshire does have a few hills). They started just before 7 am. By the time 11.30 came round, they'd counted a gobsmacking total of 28,982 redwings, all flying west.

You might say that standing around and counting birds flying over is a bit of a strange thing to do. Perhaps it is... but what an amazing number of birds for a landlocked location!

Those thousands of redwings will have started their perilous journeys in Scandinavia last night. Redwings and other thrushes are nocturnal migrants, relying on the stars and whatever other mysterious means they use to find their way. The stream of birds will have continued all night, from over the cold North Sea, onto our east coast and pushing inland, even to Bedfordshire!

If you fancy it, why not pop outside in the dark tonight. You don't need to go up a hill or to a nature reserve. Into your garden or street will do fine. Listen for a high-pitched call, a piercing 'ssiiiii', the sound of a redwing calling to its colleagues as it flies over.

Or, if you're not much of a night owl, on an early walk tomorrow morning you might see flocks of redwings and other migrant birds zapping overhead. My friends also saw fieldfares, crossbills, woodpigeons, golden plovers, siskins and even five ring ouzels - close relatives of the blackbird which are Africa-bound! Here are a few of their photos.

Even if you can't identify what you see, watch and wonder at the amazing feats of these feathered super-athletes. You won't regret it! But please tell us about your experience.

We saw burly great skuas powering their way through the stiff breeze. Snow-white gannets sliced the air and tickled the waves with their wingtips. Pilot whales appeared from the depths, a jet of spray came from a sperm whale and a pod of common dolphins joined us to surf our bow wave!

I saw lots of new and fascinating things in the Bay of Biscay. My favourites were the great shearwaters - relatives of the albatross family which breed in the South Atlantic - which flew just above the waves with such skill and certainty. The pod of more than 100 common dolphins which burst through the waves was a pretty amazing sight, too...!

We couldn't help but be impressed by the whales, dolphins and seabirds that we saw. Way out of sight of land, they were in their element and wonderfully adapted to deal with whatever the ocean threw at them. Even the storm petrels - tiny seabirds not much bigger than a sparrow - were right at home among the heaving waves.

Perhaps oddly, there were other creatures out at sea which impressed me more. Things you might not expect...

We had stowaways. While we watched for sealife from the deck of the ferry, more passengers came to rest onboard. Robins.

You've got to ask yourself: why does a robin want to cross the Bay of Biscay? We're not talking about just popping over the Channel... some of the birds were a hundred miles from land. They fluttered alongside the boat and found nooks and crannies to hide in, some in the lifeboats, which seemed entirely appropriate.

Most robins from the UK stay in Blighty, but a few have been found in France, Spain and Portugal during winter. It's likely that the birds I saw originated from mainland Europe - perhaps Scandinavia, from where robins and other thrushes will be arriving on the UK's east coast very soon. However, you really would think that it would be more sensible to fly over land!

There were other birds too, including a redstart, song thrush, a few swallows and meadow pipits. A chiffchaff joined us for part of the trip and there was even a migrant marmalade hoverfly for a while!

But it was the robins which stole my heart. Never underestimate a robin...

I love to make the most of the weekend. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy working for the RSPB, but you can't beat that feeling of coming in to work on a Monday morning knowing that I got out and about at the weekend, - preferably having been somewhere fabulous and seen something to keep me smiling all week!

My Saturday treats started with the surprise sight of a hunting migrant osprey off the Norfolk Coast.

For 15 minutes, the adult bird (clearly an experienced fisher) patrolled high over the beach before I finally saw it fold its wings and drop like a stone. It came up with a big fish – something tasty and salty no doubt!

There were other migrant birds from far afield around too. Later in the day I was watching a wryneck. This little woodpecker is a beautiful (but indescribable!) combination of bars, stripes and anchor marks. I’ve posted a picture I took of one last year so you get the idea if you’ve never seen one!

It was hopping around on some short grass and sidled up to rocks to whip out its long tongue and collect ants hiding in the cracks. It would have almost certainly originated from Scandinavia (they don’t nest here) and made landfall overnight on its migration.

The wryneck is one of my favourite birds that I’m lucky to see maybe just once every year.

Walking back, a barn owl was hunting right next to the path and then I noticed the tide had come right in, pushing all the waders off the mudflats and up into the air. I estimated the flocks of knot stretched for almost a quarter of a mile against the setting sun – an incredible sight. That’s a lot of birds. I reckoned about 60,000 in total.

Of course this is a great time of year for seeing big numbers of birds.

Lots of birds from garden birds to geese start to form big flocks for winter as the autumn goes on. And keep an eye on your local starling flocks as Russian immigrants join your garden regulars to create big, noisy, swirling flocks. So you don't need to go far to see amazing things this autumn.

Feathers are a marvellous thing. That's what struck me today when I was out walking at The Lodge, in search of our flock of Manx Loghtan sheep (they're the little ones with dead-bracken-coloured wool and up to six horns...).

I was busy not seeing the sheep, who were doubtless hiding in amongst the dead bracken, when I spotted a feather lying on the ground. I was pretty sure it was going to be from a woodpigeon (there are a lot around at the moment), but something prompted me to flip it over with my foot for a closer look.

All was revealed.

I'd stumbled across my holy grail!

When I saw the bright blue patch on one side, I gasped. I'd dreamed of finding one of these, a beautiful feather from a jay's wing. I remember a few years ago, when Mark showed me one he'd found, and feeling distinctly jealous.

Though I don't actively go looking for feathers, I most definitely keep an eye out for them on my travels. I like playing at being a nature detective.

Finding and identifying feathers means you gain a little insight into who's been there and what's been going on. A couple of weeks ago, I found a sad little pile of stripy, khaki-green feathers - some with bloodstaining - that showed a green woodpecker had been eaten, probably by a sparrowhawk. The bad news for the woodpecker meant good news for the hawk. That's how it goes...

I've seen plenty of jays at The Lodge, specially in the autumn months when they're busy flying around looking for acorns and places to stash them. Now, whenever I open the chest of drawers under my desk (where my feather 'collection' lurks), I'll be reminded of those charismatic, elusive birds. I wonder whether the jay that it belonged to is the one that's squawking outside my window now...?

• Have you found any natural 'treasures'? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

It felt, and smelt, like autumn as I walked to the bus stop this morning. The sky was a beautiful bright blue, but there was a chill in the wind that had swung overnight to the north-east. I’d been optimistic choosing a T-shirt, but I’m loathe to put on an extra layer until I really have to!

Walking past a new housing development, I glanced across a patch of ground cleared for building. A small, pale bird standing on the brown earth caught my eye.

It’s not the sort of place you tend to see many birds, so I had a feeling it might be quite interesting. It’s meerkat-like upright stance and the type of terrain it was on made me think it could be a wheatear.

I was right. Pulling my binoculars out of my bag, to the surprise of commuters driving to work, I laid eyes on a lovely little wheatear. Wheatears are always nice to see, but this one was special. Wheatears only pass through my part of the world in spring and autumn and only in relatively small numbers.

This one’s appearance on this patch of bare earth probably resulted from an overnight journey from Scandinavia, flying high and true below the stars before spotting a suitable place to have a rest and a feed up before continuing on its way to Africa.

Migration is amazing enough when you just read about it, but there’s nothing like the thrill of finding a bird like this (particularly in an unexpected place), so keep your eyes peeled.

The next six weeks or so are a time of migration of epic proportions for millions of birds. I’d love to know what you see in your travels, or close to home. Oh, and I’ll let you know if my little patch of bare ground attracts any more migrants!

Coming into work this morning, I noticed a lone swallow perched on a wire by the side of the road.

Although fairly impossible to tell what mood a bird is in, he looked a little lost and forlorn, and I imagined him sitting on the wire, wondering where all his mates had gone.

I didn't have time to stop and tell him that they were probably already well on their way to Africa, and that he, too, should probably set off in that direction soon.

Autumn is on its way

I love autumn, don't get me wrong - it's a beautiful time of year, but while the hot rays of the sun still tingle on my skin (and I can still eat ice-cream outdoors!), the thought of colder and shorter days just round the corner isn't that appealing.

Although I am excited to find out what the wonders of migration will bring to our shores this winter, I will be sad when we have said goodbye to all our summer visitors.....so until next year, I guess I'll just have to make do with my fluffy singing swallow!

What are the signs that autumn is on its way for you? Are there any winter migrants you're particularly looking forward to seeing?