# Our bird count 19/12/10



## dragonflyer (Nov 4, 2007)

Being high on top of a hill, we have had about 10" snow lying.

The birds have discovered our Charles Ross apple tree which retained its fruit. They are bright red and very attractive.

The score today is

2 maybe 3 Fieldfare 
5 Blackbirds and at least 1 missus
7 or more Redwing (which I had not seen previously)
several Great Tits
several Blue Tits
1 pair Long Tailed Tits (with pale pink sides)
1 pair Dunnock (hedge sparrows)
1 House sparrow with black bib
1 Robin (at 2.30pm)
several Coal Tits

As the apple tree is only 15 ft from a window by my desk I have been intrigued to see the pecking order.

Fieldfare senior - blackbird male - redwing - fieldfare others -blackbird female. They also squabble because some apples have better access from a stronger branch. It has been a very interesting morning.

I have tried to take photographs, but they are not very good due to the high contrast between the snow and the tree bark. I tried to photograph the tree with the 7 redwings plus other birds on it but it does not really show up well.

Four of the apples are now reduced to cores only. I think we will have to think of some way of stringing up some of the lying apples so that they are accessible. The seed feeder is popular with the tits but the robin and long tailed tits are foraging in the blackcurrant bush and the spirea (bird sown between two walls). The fat block has a 6" cap of snow. Altogether we have 7 feeders out with various bird mixes.

The pocket Mitchell Beasley book is so helpful in differentiating between similar birds.

Joyce


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## lifeson (Sep 13, 2010)

I would say the last one is more Blue Tit than Coal Tit


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

lifeson said:


> I would say the last one is more Blue Tit than Coal Tit


Yep- deffo a Blue Tit IMO.

Steve


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## dragonflyer (Nov 4, 2007)

*bird count*

I too thought it was a blue tit, especially from the yellow colour, but the book tells me that the white nape of the neck identifies a coal tit. A blue tit has a very blue cap, not black.

I am not an expert, but I do try hard with various bird books. I am more used to red kites, wood pigeons and magpies. It is 30+ years since I saw a wren in our garden.

Joyce


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## Groper (May 17, 2007)

Definitely a Bluetit.
The Coaltit white patch is much more well defined and it is a smaller bird than the Bluetit.


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

Coal tit looks much more black / grey / white and with a hint of pinkish on the breast - and it's smaller than the Blue Tit. See here:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/coaltit/index.aspx

Philip


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

*Re: bird count*



dragonflyer said:


> I too thought it was a blue tit, especially from the yellow colour, but the book tells me that the white nape of the neck identifies a coal tit. A blue tit has a very blue cap, not black.
> 
> I am not an expert, but I do try hard with various bird books. I am more used to red kites, wood pigeons and magpies. It is 30+ years since I saw a wren in our garden.
> 
> Joyce


Hi Joyce

The Coal and Blue Tit are exactly the same size, the Coal variety has a predominantly black head save for a few white patches, so that makes your one in the photo a Blue Tit. :lol:

Steve


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## dragonflyer (Nov 4, 2007)

*bird count*

Yes I have pictured a Blue Tit.

I checked back to some other photos that I took of the same bird and I can clearly see the stripe across the eye. It was the white patch which fooled me.

I did momentarily see a very small bird on the apple tree, but as I rose to my feet to see it more clearly, as it was low down, it was off. Not at all sure what it was - maybe that was a coal tit.

The trouble with the tits (at least in my garden) is that they are flitting from here to there so quickly that I am unable to get a good picture. The beautiful long tailed tits flashed across the garden and if I had not been standing close to the window and leaning forward to check on a seed feeder I would not have seen them.

Joyce


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## AndrewandShirley (Oct 13, 2007)

This is all we have had in our garden today. It sits there or on the fence and scoffs everything we put out.

We call him/her "PIES"


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## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew thank goodness for that I thought at first it was how many you had eaten..............................................


Nice pics of the birdies :lol:


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Today on our walk around the beach the tide was just coming in and the line between the snow and the water was covered in so many birds I have never seen so many.
They must have a food supply or was they after the water to have a drink?


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

They have got less afraid in my garden in their attempts to get water and food. The pond fountain is the only source of unfrozen water and they are quite desperate to get at it. I do put out water but it freezes very quickly.

Bird numbers seem to be down on last year though.

peedeee


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## 96299 (Sep 15, 2005)

AndrewandShirley said:


> This is all we have had in our garden today. It sits there or on the fence and scoffs everything we put out.
> 
> We call him/her "PIES"


As in.. "Game pies" ? 8O :lol:

steve


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## SpeedyDux (Jul 13, 2007)

One of my regular visitors is a woodpigeon who until about a week ago looked distinctly as though he had been on a pie diet. I'm sure he wobbled when he walked and his emergency take-off was on the slow side. :roll: 

He looks much slimmer today. He can have as much of the seeds as he likes. 

Looks like it will snow on and off all day here. 


SD


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