Great Tit (Parus major).

The Great Tit (Parus major) is a regular garden visitor but getting a decent image as they flit around is always a challenge particularly on a dull winter day.

Identifying the sexes is relatively straight forward as the male (see below) has a more distinctive wide black belly-band.

So during a recent to Warnham L.N.R. where there are plenty of feeders I was finally able to get a couple of closer images (see below) as one female; identified by the broken up black belly-band; removed a single seed before flying off to a hidden perch to consume it.  FAB.

Fences are for Birds.

It has been a while since I participated in Good Fences hosted by Theresa so here are a few different fences that I have strolled past recently and being used as perching places by a number of our resident breeding birds.

Scanning the fence boundaries of the horse paddocks in Horton Country Park I noticed that one post was taller than all the others and on closer inspection it was being used by one of the resident Little Owls enjoying a brief spell of winter sunshine. The image quality is not brilliant as I had to heavily crop the original as this small Owl was a long way away and very well camouflaged against the the hedgerow!

The next species, a Kestrel at Tices Meadows was far more obvious as it used a tall post to survey its surroundings before flying off to hunt for a meal.

During a visit to Warnham L.N.R. this week a male Bullfinch perched very briefly on a woven hazel fence.

And finally a Robin using a woven willow fence panel as a perch.  FAB.

Visit to Warnham L.N.R.

On Monday morning with no obvious threat of rain I decided to pay a return visit to Warnham L.N.R. Beneath the dull overcast sky the pond hosted hundreds of noisy Black-headed Gulls and a few Herring Gulls with three perched on the tern raft.

A small flotilla of Tufted Ducks drifted past the hide. After scanning around and spotting Moorhen, Coot, Cormorant fishing, Mallard lazing around and a Grey Heron carrying nesting material I headed to the hide overlooking the various feeders to check out the activity.

Lots of colourful Goldfinch using the feeders.

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker made a couple of appearances to obtain a snack from holes drilled into an old tree trunk that had been filled with fat.

A male Reed Bunting taking advantage of the seed larder.

In addition to this male Chaffinch I also watched Blue, Coal, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Nuthatch, Dunnock, Bullfinch, Magpie, Pheasant, Moorhen, Blackbird, Robin plus Wren and Treecreeper elsewhere on the reserve. Fortunately the clouds dispersed and the sun eventually shined so after two hours plus I have a few images in reserve for future posts. FAB.

Linking to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY hosted by Stewart.