For the past few days I have been in Yorkshire looking at, among other things, waxwings in temperatures as low as minus 13.  However, visiting Scrag today, the thermometer showed me a night time low of minus 9 degrees.  This is seriously low and although daytime temperatures are around 1 or 2 above since yesterday, I think there will still be a heavy toll on small bird populations.  Of course, these populations will recover as is the cycle of natural things, but spare a thought for the tiny birds, not only are they having difficulty finding sufficient food but they are having to cope with these devastating temperatures.  Although it looks beautiful, there are a lot of things dying in Scrag at the moment.