Come on snow - do your worst!

The Safari was woken terribly early by Frank this morning - perhaps Frank knew how much snow there was out there, he loves the stuff. Here's Magpie Wood before 06.00 hrs this morning.

Yep the numptie eats the snow - so much of it he gets his tummy chilled and it makes him shiver - silly boy!
Just seconds after this pic was taken he got wind of a Fox and chased it half way round the estate - silly boy!
Back at Base Camp we had a real rarity - 2 Starlings! Three Blackbirds and a Robin feasted on apples and scattered sunny seeds, The feeder was largely birdless although a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch (just singles of both) were heard. Bird of the morning was a fly over lone Pink Footed Goose. later about 50 flew over whilst yet more wood was being sawn. Not a single Blue or Great Tit today.
Around lunchtime we had an impromptu bin-less visit to Chat Alley. not often it looks like this!

On the way we had about 100 Pink Footed Geese going east over the town centre. Once on site we noticed several small flocks of 'finches' going north and a lone Lapwing. Eventually about 30 Skylarks went past at shoulder height, this time going south.
We didn't go quite as far as Pipit Slab but we did get a couple of Meadow Pipits followed by two then a third Pied Wagtail.
There were plenty, probably approaching 100, Redshanks on the beach following the ebbing tide. A couple of Sanderlings and Turnstones were seen too.
But what made these footprints on the ornamental rock face?
Looking north from the southern end of Chat Alley.

Looking north from just past the top of the last pic.

Looking south from near the southern end of Chat Alley

Did we see any chats? Yes, a Robin was looking cold in the scrat of a garden there.

You might be used to 2 1/2 metres of snow and are wondering what all this fuss is about -well, this 2 1/2 inches is a heavy fall for us! And when we go out before 20.00 hrs and the car's thermometer is telling us it's - 6C outside that's just mind-numbingly cold and going to fall even further overnight. We can't find the record low for Blackpool but we doubt if we've ever had -10C which may happen tonight or tomorrow night.

What do we like about the snow?
1. The chaos it causes

2. The crunch of fresh snow underfoot

3. Frank going doo-lally-tap like a demented puppy - he loves the stuff

4. The gull's plumage showing crisp against the grey sea and leaden sky

5. The burning sensation on warm thighs as a cold gust of wind goes through thin trousers - not too often though!!!

What do we dislike about the snow?

1. Dirty slush

2. Everyone else's footprints

3. Morons deliberately throwing snowballs over the seawall to make the gulls and waders fly

4. De-icing the car for the umpteenth time

5. the scary fact that our wildlife has to spend the long cold nights out there.

Where to next? Might just get a short safari in tomorrow but it is the day of the ultimate shop-athon for next week's mega chompfest, so unless there are Waxwings in the supermarket car park we might not see much at all.

In the meantime let us know who the morons are in your outback