Jay in the woods

On several occasions, when walking through Trentham Forest we have seen the odd Jay. They are usually very ellusive and fly off very quickly. Today we came upon 3 Jays in the old wood. They immediately flew off before I could raise my camera. Not to be outdone again, I walked into the wood and followed them. My persistence was rewarded with a few photographs at a distance.
Jays are about the size of a magpie, and just as fast. They are only seen close to forest and often deep within the trees.

On Saturday, we went to the wedding of our neice, Sharon. The drive over took about one and a half hours along the A-roads and motorway. There was a general covering of snow at Stoke, but the weather was clear on the south side of the Pennines. There had been some snow around Chesterfield and our great neice Lauren had built a mini snowman. On our return journey we ventured across the Peaks where, at Hartington, we discovered that someone else had also built a little snowman on one of the outdoor tables of the pub. He looks a happy chappy!