Some Birds From February

Greattit
Marshtit
Bluetit
Nuthatch
Greater spotted Woodpecker

Bird Watching

Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Woody again
Robin

They Are Back!

I didn't think they were using the box this yar but over the weekend i noticed some activty.
The babies are still very small as the parents are going right in the box to feed them

They are great tits and they make a lot of noise cheeping away inside.

Great Tit
Nuthatch
Robin
Mandarin Duck.No sign of Ducklings yet

Blue tit

The Tit Family

The weather has not been that good the last couple of days and although we have been out and about Birdwatching, i have not posted much. So here are some members of the Tit family. First we have the Longtailed Tit. (Aegithalos caudatus) With their long tails they are very distinctive and are often seen in small flocks. I often get them in my garden, but they flit about so quickly they are hard to get photos of.
This is the Coal Tit.(Parus ater) He is the smallest and is often bullied by his larger relatives.They are very common in the Forest.
The Marsh Tit (Parus palustris) is distinguished from the coal tit by as he does not have the white nape patch or the flashes on his wings. The Marsh tit is very similar to the willow tit , but they are not as common.
Next we have the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) he is a very common garden bird With his blue head he is easily distinguished from the bigger Great Tit.
Finally we have the Great Tit, (Parus major) he is the largest of the Tits and is about 14cm in height. Great Tits nested in our bird box last year and I am hoping they will do so again this year They are already inspecting it.

We have one other Tit in the British Isles, the crested Tit but they are mostly found in the Scottish Highlands. The Bearded Tit was once thought to be a member of the same family but it is now thought to be more closely related to the babblers of tropical Africa and Asia.

Blashford Lakes again

It was very cold at the lakes, but plenty of activity around the feeders.
I like this little coal tit

and a puffed up finch

Here a Siskin is feeding, Blashford attracts large numbers , but this is the first time I have seen one on the feeders.

and finally a Chaffinch

Grey Squirrel
Shy Little Vole

Bunny

Pochard
Blashford lakes


Great tit
Longtailed Tit
Greater Spotted Woodpecker


Robin

Life in the back garden.

Longtailed Tit , Great Tit and Sparrow.



The pebble pool attracts a lot of birds to the garden. Big wood pigeons down to the tiny wren. This year we have seen more sparrows then we have for a long time. I have read that their numbers are declining, prehaps they are making a come back. Today I was luck to see some longtailed tits .

Shes leaving Home..........Bye Bye

This morning there was quite a commotion going on in the garden. When I went to investigate I found 3 little Great tits perched in the shrubs cheeping away and more cheeping from the nest box. The babies were finally leaving. They looked so small and they had chosen to rest only a few feet from the ground. The dogs had to stay in for a while as they could easily have been drawn by the cheeping and gone to investigate. It was a cold damp drizzly morning, and they must have had a shock after the warmth of the nest box.