Winter Honeysuckle - January 2018

What an awful miserable cold grey day it was for my photo shoot this week. It was almost too dark to take photographs without a flash, so I ramped up the ISO, wrapped up warm, and headed off into the garden to see what I could find.

My first port of call was at this Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) bush, which was covered in these little white blooms, and had a wonderful fragrance.

Erigeron - January 2018

My next stop was at the Erigeron 'Stallone' (Erigeron karvinskianus), which still had a few flowers that had survived the frosty weather conditions.

Periwinkle - January 2018

The Periwinkle (Vinca) was still going strong, with more and more flowers opening up on a daily basis.

Crocus - January 2018

There were also plenty of Crocuses pushing up through the lawn, but with the lack of sunlight, they were reluctant to open up.

Forest Flame Buds - January 2018

There were a mass of these tiny flower buds covering the Forest Flame (Pieris) bush, that would soon be opening up into tiny white flowers.

Berry Formation - January 2018

The Common Ivy (Hedera helix) berries were coming along nicely, and would soon be turning black as they ripened.

Mahonia Leaves - January 2018

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the Mahonia (Mahonia japonica) bush leaves, as they have something about them that I think is quite photogenic.

Catkins - January 2018

It wouldn't be long before the catkins of the Twisted Hazel Tree (Corylus avellana Contorta) would be opening and releasing their seeds.

Cotoneaster Berries - January 2018

One of the Cotoneaster bushes had berries remaining. This particular one is next to a public footpath which is probably why the birds have been reluctant to feast upon them.

Geese - January 2018

Pointing my camera towards the grey skies yielded an unexpected view of these, presumably, migrating Geese. I thought it was a little late for them to be heading off, but maybe I'm wrong?

Ruffled - January 2018

I'm always accompanied on my photo shoot by a flock of Feral Pigeons (Columba livia). This one was watching me from the roof of the house...

Feral Flight - January 2018

...while this one was keeping an eye on me as it flew overhead.

Blackbird - January 2018

This Blackbird (Turdus merula) was also keeping me under observation, waiting for an opportune moment to swoop into the garden for some breadcrumbs.

Starling - January 2018

There were also a group of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) trying to get in on the breadcrumbs, but most of them were keeping their distance in the treetops.

Black Headed Gull - January 2018

At this time of year there are also quite a few Black Headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) around, but they haven't developed their black head feathers yet.

Blue is the Colour - June 2017

Finally, I haven't had time for any fishy photography this week, so here's one of Eric, my Electric Blue Ram (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) from last year. He's grown quite a bit since this shot, which was taken a couple of months after I purchased him.

So, this week I chose Winter Jasmine as my Image of the Week, simply for brightening up an otherwise grim day...