28 Oct 24 - It's Long-tailed Tit Season Again

Long-tailed Tits are easily my favourite European species. I enjoy looking at them throughout the year, but especially so in the late Autumn, when their calls might end in attracting a more interesting migrant to join the flock.

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

This party of Long-tailed Tits only had a few Blue Tits, a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest. But they were still worth watching.

Long-tailed Tit

Maybe my next Long-tailed Tits flock will have a stripy Warbler with them.

1 Apr 20 - Always Welcome #BWKM0

One of the great things from this Winter has been an extended party of Long-tailed Tits that have been visiting my feeders. Even better, the feeders are only a meter from the back door, allowing excellent close up views. In the middle of the winter, I would typically see five to eight individuals at a time visiting, with a peak count of ten. Recently, the totals have reduced to two individuals as the flock has presumably broken up to set up breeding territories.

Long-tailed Tit: Taken through the back door window. The frame helps to defeat the Grey Squirrel which was raiding the feeders last Autumn (26 Dec 19)

Check tomorrow to see the next day's wildlife sighting at when I will be confined at #BWKM0.

21 Dec 14 - Communal Bath Time

I've already written a Post about one of the Top Ten Birds that I've seen. Fortunately, I get to see this species regularly as Long-tailed Tits are a fairly common British species. They are erratic visitors to my garden. I have spells when I see or hear them every few days & then gaps of several weeks or months before they start visiting again. One of the reasons I like them it they are one of the most social of UK Passerines. There has been a party visiting the feeders recently, but today I caught them in the front garden pond & found that they all communally bathe as well. All photos taken through the front window.

Long-tailed Tit: Initially, just two Long-tailed Tits

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit: But no surprise when the rest of the group joined in

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

It just goes to show that you don't need to go to far flung destinations to see some great Birds. Albeit my other nine Top Ten Birds do require travel to exotic locations.

28 Sep 14 - Southern Hawker Egg Laying

I spent several hours out Birding locally on Old Harry & Studland today with a selection of commoner typical migrant Bird species seen, but nothing unexpected. Jays were on the move with a flock of 7 North over Studland. An additional 12 heading West from Old Harry, having realised that they were on the end of a headland with water on the Northerly direction that they wanted to go. The Westerly direction would have got them back onto a land route North.

Jay: Part of the flock of 12 which rose out of the front wood by Old Harry

I am always happy to see Long-tailed Tits & I spent some time grilling a couple of mixed Tit & Warbler flocks: but only Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps tagging along today. But the Long-tailed Tits are always great to watch.

Long-tailed Tit: The only European species in my top 10 Birds of the world that I've seen

Long-tailed Tit: It finally got bored with my pishing & after a final look, it decided to move on

There were also a few Butterflies on the wing with Clouded Yellows, Red Admirals, Speckled Woods, Large Whites & a singles of Small Copper & Peacock (the first I've seen for several weeks). The car was showing 23 degrees when I got back to it, so no surprise the Butterflies were enjoying the weather.

Clouded Yellow: The commonest Butterfly seen today with at least 14 individuals. This one appeared to be trying the "If I can't really see you, then you can't see me approach", which didn't really work

The wildlife highlight of the day was this cracking female Southern Hawker which greeted me on my return home. She was egg laying around the main pond. But unlike the other species of Dragonflies & Damselflies, which I've seen lay eggs in water, she was laying eggs in the moss, a few inches above the waterline on the rocks that edge the pond. This is something I've seen before on a few occasions in the last 2 years. From what I've read this evening, it seems that the eggs will not hatch until the following Spring, so perhaps this is a safer strategy for this species than laying the eggs in the pond over the winter. At one point, she even landed on my arm, but wisely decided that a green Rohan fleece was not the right place to lay an egg!

Southern Hawker: Female. This egg was a good 6 inches above water line, with some even higher

Southern Hawker: Female

Southern Hawker: Female. The final 2 segments have bands on them which separates this species from all the other Hawkers

16 July 14 - Photospot5: Long-tailed Tits - My Favourite European Bird

If asked to name their favourite European or UK bird, a lot of birders would probably instinctively choose their rarest bird, or the rarity they saw which few others have seen or perhaps a species that they have found. Many years ago, I was asked about the best 10 species I've seen in the world. Automatically, I began thinking of Gurney's Pitta, Banded Pitta, Sun-bittern & Quail-plover as four strong candidates. These are all great tropical species. However, I then surprised the birder who asked me the question with Long-tailed Tit as the only European candidate. This sparked the retort, what about Wallcreeper, followed by a number of other species, including a few of the biggest UK rarities we had seen over the years. Yes, they were all great to watch, some very rare in Europe, but they didn't generate the same excitement for me as a group of Long-tailed Tits.

Long-tailed Tit

Why do I like them so much. First they are great social birds. They can be a lot quieter when they are breeding. But outside the breeding season, they are always going around in noisy parties and constantly calling to each other. This has the added advantage of pulling into other species into the flocks outside of the breeding season. In South America, the birders learn the flock leaders as the rest of their bird flocks tend to follow these leaders. Long-tailed Tits are probably the main UK flock leaders. The obvious followers are Blue Tits, Great Tits & other Tits, but also they attract Warblers, Crests, Treecreepers & Nutchatches.

Long-tailed Tit: Juvenile. They are constantly on the move & looking around for that next snack

For me, there is the added potential of checking a Long-tailed Tit flock in the late Autumn, with the hope there might be an interesting Warbler like a Yellow-browed Warbler, Pallas's Warbler or something rarer, following the flock. I've found several local YBWs after hearing Long-tailed Tits & narrowly missed finding a Winspit Pallas's Warbler (as another visiting Birder got to the flock just ahead of me).

Yellow-browed Warbler: Abbotsbury (4 Nov 13)

Additionally, they are a great shape & very distinctive. It's not a bird that is hard to identify & being a common bird, then it's not too hard for most birders & birdwatchers to see. They do spark an interest for the beginner birdwatchers, which hopefully will get them more hooked on birds. They are an erratic garden visitor for me. For several weeks, they will be around most days & then they disappear back to the local woods and I won't see any in the garden for several months. This erratic nature also helps to stop them being taken for granted.

Long-tailed Tit: Juvenile. The whitish forehead & crown, purplish nape & mantle and absence of pale pink indicate this is juvenile bird

On a few occasions we would catch a family party in the nets when I was a trainee ringer, in my pre-university days. Not only were they great to see up close, they were also great characters. It was the only species we caught, then ended up being rebagged until all the flock had been ringed. While waiting in the bags, one would occasionally call. This would result in the others calling back from their bags. As I said great characters. Eventually, we would get to release the whole group at the same time.

Long-tailed Tit: Juvenile

They are also very inquisitive birds. A bit of quiet pishing will often get them to come close to check out the noise. With a bit of luck, this can sometimes be so close that the bins won't focus. It's always great seeing good birds, this close. Who could not like Long-tailed Tits?

Long-tailed Tit: Juvenile. Great to see so many juveniles in the flocks at the moment. Clearly, a good breeding season

Feel free to leave a Comment on your favourite European bird & why.

23 June 14 - Confusing Blue-tailed Cousins

One of the things I've been trying to do this Summer is see a few of the Dragonflies & Damselflies that I've not seen before. Also, I'm trying & get some decent photos of each of the UK species. There is only one Dorset species I've not seen before & that is Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly. A good birding mate of mine, Kevin Lane, got in touch to say he had seen them over the weekend in the New Forest. So it seemed a good idea to take advantage of the ongoing decent weather & head over there. It would give me a better idea of the habitat, before trying to find this uncommon species in Dorset. There are a couple of historical sites around the Poole Harbour & Purbeck areas close to me, which I would like to check out in the coming weeks.

The Latchmore Brook: These slow flowing streams are typical of the New Forest

The New Forest is just over the border in Hampshire. It will be a well known area to UK residents, but for the overseas readers of this blog, I'll give you a quick overview. The name is very misleading as it is some of the oldest forested and unfenced lowland in the Southern England. It was created as a protected area for hunting of Deer in 1079 by King William 1, also known as William the Conqueror, soon after William's invasion of the UK.  It covered over 200 square miles in the South West corner of Hampshire, to the West of Southampton. This constant protection has resulted in a rich tapestry of heathland, woodland & more open grassland. The protection has continued for the area to this day, albeit the Deer are no longer hunted by the Royal Family. One of the good things is development within the New Forest has been limited, so that there are still large areas of open countryside. The local inhabitants have Commoners rights to graze Horses, Ponies & Cows throughout the New Forest & this has also helped to maintain this important habitat. Most of the New Forest is owned by the nation & the area was designated as a National Park in April 2006. It is a major tourist area & getting out on a Monday to avoid the crowds was a good idea. Having said that, the area I was visiting is on the North Western boundary of the New Forest & is probably one of the quieter parts.

Latchmore Brook & New Forest Horses

A typical New Forest view: The gentle slopes, grassy areas, low areas of Heather & patches of forest are all very typical

The Dragonfly areas are along the Latchmore Brook. As I started to walk from the car park I quickly ran into a Green Woodpecker & a party of Long-tailed Tits. There were a pair of Stonechats on the heath along with a few Meadow Pipits. But generally the birdlife was pretty quiet.

Green Woodpecker: The females have black moustachials whereas the males have obvious red moustachials

Long-tailed Tit: Juvenile

The first Dragonflies seen were these Beautiful Demoiselles. They were along the length of the small river. The males were fairly approachable, but the females provided to be too skittish in the sunshine.

Beautiful Demoiselle: Male have a completely dark metallic blue underwing, whereas the similar Banded Demoiselles have a distinct band with a clear base & tip to the wing

Beautiful Demoiselle: Male. I couldn't resist another photo

After about half a mile of walking, but a lot of looking, I reached Kevin's site where he had seen the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies. I walked around the area, but there was no obvious sign of any Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies, amongst the other more obvious species: Golden-ringed Dragonfly, many Keeled Skimmers, my first Common Darter of the year, Large Red & Azure Damselflies.

Keeled Skimmer: Male. Note, the wings face forward, the thin blue abdomen with no yellow edges and the black restricted to the extreme end of the abdomen 

Keeled Skimmer: Male. Also note the lack of dark markings at the base of the wing, which indicates this is a Skimmer & not one of the Chasers. The oblong marking (pterostigma) at end wing is yellow-brown in Keeled Skimmers, compared to dark brown or black in Black-tailed Skimmers

Common Darter: Immature Female. Note, the black legs with a yellow line down the outer edge (Ruddy Darters would have all black legs)

Common Darter: Immature female

Common Darter: Immature female Common Darters have a yellow thorax (while a female Ruddy Darter has a black T on the top of the yellow thorax)

Common Darter: Immature Female. Note, the black marking in the face is a line which does not continue down the sides of the eye (which it does in the other Darter species)

Large Red Damselfly: Female. The black bands extending up the abdomen indicates this is a female, males have more red in the abdomen with the black limited to the segments closest to the end of the abdomen

Having walked up & mainly down, I sat down by the end of the stream. Immediately, I did I saw a Damselfly fly a short distance & settle back down again. I could see it was a Blue-tailed Damselfly type & a quick check with the bins confirmed it was a Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly. Care is needed to check the Damselflies as Kevin saw both species in this area.

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly: Male. The blue is on segment 9 and the end of segment 8 (whereas it's on Segment 8 on Blue-tailed Damselfly)

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly: Male. Overall they are thinner & weaker bodied than Blue-tailed Damselfly 

Blue-tailed Damselfly: For comparison, here is a Blue-tailed Damselfly with the blue on segment 8 and segments 9 & 10 being black (Swineham, 19 June 14)

The Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly habitat: They were perching on the short stalks near to the stream

There were good numbers of Silver-studded Blues on the heath, as well as, the Large Skippers & Small Skippers: all the first I've seen this year.

Silver-studded Blue: Females are brown on the upperside. The superficially resemble the Brown Argus but only have orange spots on the hind wing (Brown Argus have obvious spots on all wings)

Silver-studded Blue

I don't really know much about plants, apart from Orchids, but there were a couple of interesting ones seen today.

Round-leaved Sundew: One of my favourite plants, being one of the few carnivorous plants in the UK

Round-leaved Sundew: They are very common in the boggy parts of the New Forest

Bog Asphodel: Again a common bog species

Bog Asphodel: A larger clump