Usually Coal Tits flit around from twig to twig, but it was having to hang on in a brisk wind. It's easy to be blown away when you only weigh a quarter of an ounce.
A pair of Great Tits climbed on the dead tree just along the path, looking for insects in the bark ...
... and exploring a possible nest hole.
Blue Tits have nested in this tree in previous years, building under flakes of loose bark.
A Long-Tailed Tit examined a twig.
There were plenty of Redwings on the Parade Ground. One pulled up a worm.
There were also three Mistle Thrushes ...
... a couple of Pied Wagtails ...
... and four Great Spotted Woodpeckers, though these stayed at a distance and I couldn't get a picture. However, there was a Green Woodpecker on an oak tree near the leaf yard.
The Grey Herons' nest on the south side of the island has been built up a bit, but the sitting bird still seemed uncomfortable and kept standing up and turning round.
All the other herons, five of them, were on the ground keeping out of the wind.
A Lesser Black-Backed Gull washed and preened on the Long Water. Several people on YouTube have said that the Lesser Black-Backs in my videos are actually Herring Gulls. But the subspecies of this bird found in Britain (Larus fuscus graelsii) is a lighter grey than the others. There is also a possibility of hybrids and this gull, although certainly too dark to be a Herring Gull, had pink feet like one.
A Moorhen climbed on a net, just for the fun of it.
A Mute Swan washed, making a tremendous splash.
Well, he certainly looks as if he is enjoying the splash just because he can.
ReplyDeleteGull enthusiasts are really one step above us mere bird enthusiasts. I have seen bitter fights about what shade of brown or pink a bird part is.
Gull enthusiasm can become alarmingly specialised. Birdwatchers can hardly talk about obsession, but regard the really hardline gull people as a shade weird.
DeleteSmall birds seem to have astonishing strength relative to their size and weight; quite impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe feet of passerine birds are self-clamping: perching bends the tarsus and so pulls tendons that close the toes. The feet of tits are particularly strong, as anyone who feeds tits on their hand will experience.
Deletemakes sense: I have felt that clamping.
DeleteLike a tiny Mole wrench when you close the handles, and the mechanism is similar.
Delete