Last night the temperature plummeted to a year low of -4.2°C, and we watched the external temperature gauge inside the house drop nearly 2°C in just over 30 minutes between 9.00pm and 9.30pm. By 8.30am his morning it had risen to 0.7°C.

It was the coldest night since the 3rd March 2006 when it dipped to -5.8°C.

By early afternoon things had warmed up to 6.3°C, strangely making it the warmest day for six days.

The outside camera was installed early this morning, so we were eager to see if there were any visits today, and what a visitor might look like.

We didn't have to wait long, and this fellow pitched up at 10.14am and promptly had a quick peek inside:

After a quick look-out over the garden, it had one more look and left again:

The box fell silent for just over 90 minutes when another brief visit took place, although it only lasted about 2 seconds:

So at present we seem to be averaging two visits a today, and as expected at this time of year, they usually happen in the morning.

The garden is short of at least one more Blue Tit as of yesterday, when a Sparrowhawk made a quick and loud kill just outside the window where we sit to work on the web site. In fact it's quite active at present, and if you are a Sparrow, Blue Tit, or any other kind of small bird - now this is the time of year to really watch your back!