Walking through the woodlands this morning, I must admit there wasn’t too much inspiration in a visual sense. No wonder this month inspired the song lyrics ‘January sick and tired you’ve been hanging on me’, and yet my ears had a feast of bird song and then the unmistakable loud drumming of a woodpecker, most probably The Greater Spotted Woodpecker.

None of the birds have a chance to moan about this month, for they are preparing. Finding their mate is of the utmost importance, and the woodpeckers are no different. The drumming is to establish their breeding territories. The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is small with a black and white plumage and a dash of red at the back of the head for the males.

As food is scarce, you may get a treat and see them in your garden. Along with the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the Green Woodpecker, they are fully fledged native residents in the UK. A woodpecker’s Spiritual symbolism is that of persistence, divine timing, and communication, encouraging us to dig deeper to find inner wisdom. A good example for us as we move through the start of this year.

And what a start to the year we have had. Last night in Chawton, we had another of our own taking the podium, as in the lovely Sarah Dorgan, who shared such meaningful, inspired thoughts, and then went on to bring so many messages. Well done, Sarah. We had a lovely night!! Chris Elliot was our chair, making a great team to lead us through the evening.

We thank the readers also for raising the energy. We thank Lisa for running our music. Carole and Sue, we thank you for the hospitality and cake!! Thank you to our healers who were quite busy last night! And of course, busy hands setting up, breaking down, and washing up. Thank you!

Prayer of the week.

Please pray for the bereaved. Some suffer a very sudden loss, and some experience the loss of a child, which can be especially difficult. Please pray that they can all be lifted into understanding and Peace which can change everything.

Calendar up later.

Remember, the endless rain will give us such a lush springtime.

With the UK annual birdwatch coming up this week between the 24th and 26th January, I was thinking about the humble House Sparrow that I do not see much in my garden. There was quite a decline in them but apparently they are making a comeback. They are inquisitive little ones with the males much more striking in appearance than the duller looking females. They like being close to human habitat and hopefully most folk are seeing them increase in numbers in their gardens and their local parks.

Loss of habitat, nesting areas and enjoyed food source drove their numbers down, as with most birds, hence the annual birdwatch this time every year to help understand which species needs a little extra help, as we all do when those chips are down.

But things were very good in Chawton last night. We had a lovely evening as Russell Haworth came to visit. He is a newer medium to us and we had a lovely time, as he spoke on kindness and actually gave us a task to go away with, and then brought some lovely messages for us!! Thank you so much Russell! We will look forward to seeing you later in the year. Thank you to Nerina who chaired the evening so graciously also.

We enjoyed lovely readings and prayers from the family, Julie on music. Carole and a smorgasbord of baked goods!! We are so spoilt! Sue with our hospitality, healers on hand afterwards and all the set up and breakdown making it light quick work!!

Prayer of the week

Please pray for the ceasefire in the Middle East. We pray it will hold and that all the hostages will be returned, and families can celebrate or at the very least gain a closure after more than a year of uncertainty and heartbreak. Also that those in Gaza can receive supplies and have Peace whilst they deal with the devastation of their homeland.

Calendar up next.

Wrap up out there. It is still pretty cold!!

The RSPB

https://www.rspb.org.uk › RSPB › Birdwatch-25