Knowing that snow was in the forecast, I made a last minute decision to go on a walk with birding friends in the afternoon of 1 October 2017. The sun was shining, though grey clouds were slowly moving in, and you could tell that there was about to be a big change in the weather. It is so rare that I go for a walk any more, but it was good to get out for the afternoon, down at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park.

Our big question was, where were all the birds? We saw practically nothing in maybe a two and a half hour walk, though I was glad to at least have seen and got a quick shot of a little Red-breasted Nuthatch. People are not allowed to feed the birds down in the park, which means that the birds fly up to the top of the hillside and visit the feeders in people's gardens. The afternoon is not the best time of day to be looking for birds, to start with. We used to see quite a few deer in Fish Creek Park, too, years ago, but people letting their dogs run off-leash, despite all the signs, have spoilt all that.

We always go for coffee after the afternoon walk - good old Tim's : ) Always enjoyable to catch up with friends.