Out of the Gloom

A fog descended on the area overnight and was slow to lift through the morning.
This sort of dull weather creates a sense of gloom that oppresses the spirit.
It brightened up in the afternoon with some sunshine for a couple of hours, interupted briefly by a cloud bearing a few drops of rain.

One of my emails this morning was from my niece who while gardening found a creature she was not familiar with.
She described it as something like a small juvenile slow worm but a vivid orange colour.
I do not know if Slow worms can be this colour; as it lacked any legs it could not have been a Newt so we are baffled at present. Any suggestions would be welcome.
In the garden I caught another sight of the female Blackcap. She was interested in scraps of fat left on the Crab Apple tree from the homemade bird cake which is devoured by greedy Starlings. The fragments which fall are picked up by the Robin who patrols the feeding area at Starling meal times.
A single Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus called from the branches of the Hawthorn early in the afternoon.