It was snowing when I went to put down the birdseed – a fine spray of small white ice particles that whirled on the wind and stung your face. The sparrows had retreated to the motel and if sparrows could look glum, there were half-a-dozen glum faces peering out of the greenery.
The snow didn’t last more than a few minutes, but the weather has definitely turned colder and the birds, especially the smaller ones, are swarming over the feeders, trying to get as much fuel onboard as possible before they’re forced to take shelter again.
The usual mix of birds are there and the reed warbler seems to have decided to stay with the flock for the time being. However, there are two characters whose recent appearance has caused a certain amount of curiosity and even concern.
In the depths of Winter we’ve had regular visits from a group of long-tailed tits, hailing from a nearby garden. There are eight of them and they can all cling onto a fat-ball feeder at the same time, clustered together in a feathered pom-pom with a fringe of sweeping tails, packed so tightly that it is hard to tell where one bird starts and another ends. They are always together, so it was strange, slightly alarming, when a single bird appeared a few days ago, nervously approaching the feeders, deferring to all the other birds, even the little coal tits. It did not seem to be able to settle long enough to feed, but for the last two days there have been two of them and now, backed-up by one another, they seem bolder and demand their share of the food.
The long-tailed tits never seem to go down to ground level, but move from feeder to feeder, shadowing eachother. Their plumage is so softly painted that it seems like ancient watercolour where the hues blend into one another. Hopefully, this is a new pair, setting out to create a new family and maybe we will see a second pom-pom in time.
thekitchensinkbirdwatcher 