Tits at work
Tits at work
Despite the sudden return to winter, we do seem to have passed that point of the year when flocks of birds – finches and tits – give way to pairs. A couple of weeks ago we had confirmatory evidence. As I sat over my breakfast coffee and crossword, my eye was caught by a fluttering at the sitting room window. A long-tailed tit was hovering outside, then darting up to the top of the frame, up and down several times. Soon it was joined by its mate and, moving closer, I realised what they were up to. The crack above the window is a favourite haunt of spiders and the clever birds were collecting cobwebs, probably the thicker silk cocoons in which the spiders wrap their eggs. Every so often one of the pair sped off with a beak full of web but quickly returned to work. And it was work – this species build the most intricate and beautiful nests from moss, lichen, feathers and cobwebs. The sticky web binds the whole thing together into a warm elastic bag in which a family of up to a dozen nestlings can thrive and grow. This is a major project requiring as many as 2,000 feathers and a goodly supply of spiders’ webs. The nest is often located low down in bushes or small trees. The first one I ever saw was in a gorse thicket in the Washburn Valley, and I marvelled at how two tiny birds could construct something so delicate yet so strong – and all just using their beaks. My garden pair were carrying their sticky beakfulls over our neighbours’ hedge, so the nest could be in his garden. Let’s hope the pair is successful in raising their brood.
Another welcome visitor arrived mid-February. A stout brown bird with a white collar, a dandyish white moustache and a black head – it was a reed bunting. Usually to be found in wetland areas with reed beds and marshy scrub, reed buntings seem to be on the move around March and, for the last three years, one has found temporary lodgings in our garden. I like to think it’s the same individual but, of course, can’t be sure.This year he stayed about three weeks – his rather shabby cap turning to the sooty black of full breeding plumage while he built up his strength on my seed feeder.
