Happy Birds....

Now is the time of the year when all the small birds come into gardens and gorge themselves on the offerings left out. Our garden is no exception and we have a lovely group of regulars that include: Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Sparrows, and my personal favourite is the Nuthatch. I have had plenty of use out of my camera the last couple of weeks taking photos of them as they feed!
This is a Coal Tit (Periparus ater), the Coal Tit is slightly less bright in colour compared too other members of the Tit family which you will see below.

The Coal Tit is often found in gardens as during the autumn and winter they join large flocks of Tits (such as blue and great) and they then go into woodlands and gardens in search of food. The Coal Tit has a much more slender beak than other Tits and they use this effectively in conifer woodlands, this means they are able to feed with limited competition from other Tits. Coal Tits also stock pile food during the winter, which is why they are difficult to photograph on bird tables and feeders as they do not eat the food on site.

Hungry pair of Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus).

Getting ready to eat a seed!

This one really thought that it was hiding from me!
Blue Tits are perhaps one of the most attractive garden visitors! Family units of Blue Tits will group up with other Tits much like Coal and Great Tits will. It is not a uncommon sight to see four or five Blue Tits sat on a feeder at once and this can often mean that one garden is supporting more than twenty birds!

This is a Great Tit (Parus major).
The Great Tit is the UK's largest tit and is a rather aggressive visitor to the bird table and will often scare off other birds. The Great Tit in autumn and winter will join Coal Tits and Blue Tits in large groups to maraud gardens and the countryside!

This is my favourite of our garden visitors the Nuthatch (Sitta europaea).
The Nuthatch is about the size of a Great Tit but is less commonly distributed than the Tits as it is mainly found in Southern and Central English woodlands and in Wales, they also do not travel as far as Tits as they seldom leave the woods where they were hatched. As the name might suggest they are adept at eating nuts such as Hazelnuts and Beech Masts but they will also come to the bird feeder during the winter.

All in all it is a great time to see birds up close and personal and also from the comfort of your own house!

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