Fortunately there appears to have been very low natural mortality amongst the red deer population during this extremely testing period.

Two whooper swans and a cygnet spent a few days on the river and I had some good views of dippers who were happily feeding away. A late winter bird survey for the BTO Bird Atlas suggests that smaller birds such as wrens have moved away or unfortunately perished.

Let's hope that we do not get any more long spells of cold weather during the remainder of the winter.