I’m pleased to announce that my little one-armed bandit is alive and well. I put the bird food out at about 8.30am and by 8.45am he had arrived and was tucking into some peanuts.

He stayed a good 5 minutes which gave me ample time to watch him closely, from the kitchen window through the binnoculars.

His left arm is definitely missing, yet his little shoulder operates as normal. When he sits and holds a nut, in that typical squirrel fashion, he just holds it in his right hand and nibbles, yet if you saw him from a distance his body shape would look completely normal.

He looks perfect everywhere else and is obviously managing to survive in these wicked temperatures. I do hope he comes again tomorrow.

The bird feeder has been busy today with all the usual suspects, plus a fleeting glimpse of a woodpecker. He didn’t stay long, just a quick peck at the telegraph pole in the hedge, and he was on his way. I wish he would come and feed on the peanuts like the ones in my sister’s garden in Scotland.