I was at home in Wales and went for a wonderful scamper on the beach with the dogs on Christmas day to work up an appetite for a Christmas feast!

It wasn't just me and the dogs that were hungry after all that exercise.

The birds in our gardens use up a huge amount of energy finding food to help them survive the cold.

I'm sure your birds appreciated any Christmas left-overs you gave them, and if you, like me, still have some bits of cake and mince pies left the birds are not going to be worried about sell-by dates!

This is the time to be thinking about taking down the tree and putting away your decorations until next Christmas.

Any fresh Christmas trees and other greenery can be recycled, either on your own compost heap, or take it to a community recycling centre where they can be turned into mulch.

It seems, once Christmas is over, that winter seems to drag on far too long, but you'll start to notice, towards the end of this month, the evenings will become lighter and bulbs and other plants will start pushing their way through the bare earth.

Snowdrops and crocuses lead the way and there's nothing that can lift the spirits like a first sighting of these beautiful spring flowers.

They'll soon be joined by a whole host of others from daffodils to irises and spring will well and truly be on the way.

But to ward off the winter blues, why not take part in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.

It is happening on the weekend of January 30 to 31 so stick it in your diary.

Spend just one hour that weekend recording the wildlife you see in your gardens and let the RSPB know.

Details are on the website and if you take part you'll be contributing to vital research which will help protect our garden birds in the future.

I'll be sure to let you know the results once all the numbers have been crunched.