Long tailed tits

[snooky]

There is a tree in a hospitals grounds with feeders hanging from its branches and the pecking order seems to be greenfinches,great tits,blue tits,sparrows,and then the long-tailed tits and robins,blackbirds,magpies etc cleaning up the ground underneath the tree.
The kids in the creche next door look fascinated as they watch the goings-on.

[garden_serf]

I installed my first 2 feeders yesterday in the front garden. Filled them with just Sunflower Hearts. At 16.20 the first visitor was a Blackcap. (I had to get advice to identify it as I am a novice when it comes to identifying birds - getting better though). I was really pleased.

I saw a small bodied bird with a long tail that looked mostly grey & white, some dark on wings, nearby, it may have been a Long-tailed tit. As I work from home I will be able to keep an eye on it.

A female Blackbird (with no tail!), a robin and a thrush are seen daily picking over my raised beds (I spread homemade compost there recently).

[Parsons Jack]

Hi all,

We've got quite a few Greenfinches, and lots of Goldfinches here. Haven't seen any Long-tailed Tits yet though
In fact looking back over the year, there has been only one great tit, and no blue tits at all. Seems to be a real shortage down here.
Lots of sparrows and starlings which is nice. Lots of lapwings and quite a few curlews in the area as well.

[PLUMPUDDING]

We had gales last night and I've been retrieving pots, and lids and standing up everything that had blown over. It had blown lots of twigs and small branches off the silver birch tree, and even blown the feeder out of the pear tree. The main pole with all the fat blocks and other feeders on was at an angle of about 20 degrees from the floor, so that took a bit of righting. Nothing seems to have broken here though, although the large christmas tree across the road had blown over and the neighbour's fence has gone.

Funny the weather forecast said gusts of 20 to 30 mph for us. If they were 20 to 30, I feel sorry for the people in Scotland who they said would get 60 to 70.

All the birds are back on the feeders now, and I've given them a sprinkling of meal worms as a treat, so I'm seeing how long it takes the robin to find them.

[Parsons Jack]

Walking along the beach late the other afternoon, I counted 18 Curlews in a group on their way down to Dungeness. A lovely sight.