A fledgling Long-tailed tit

11 Thursday Jun 2026

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, juvenile birds, juvenile Long-tailed tit, long-tailed tit

It’s that time of year when all the young fledgling birds are out and about, following their parents and siblings through the trees, begging for food, learning to forage, constantly calling to stay in contact with each other.

Though it’s often difficult to spot the individual birds now that the foliage on the trees is so lush, it always make me smile to hear them and, occasionally, one bird will pause briefly in the open so, if I’m quick, I’m able to grab a few photos. This juvenile Long-tailed tit recently provided me with just such an opportunity.

Avian juveniles

02 Tuesday Sep 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, fledglings, juvenile birds, long-tailed tit, robin, Stonechat, young birds

I feel like we haven’t had enough birds on here lately so let’s take a look at some of this year’s juveniles …

There are quite a lot of young Chiffchaffs flitting around the trees and bushes now, in the throes of making their first migration flights south for the winter, though, with the warming climate, many Chiffchiffs also now over-winter in southern parts of Britain.

This was the first juvenile Collared dove I’d ever seen and it was probably the fact that it was a juvenile that made it much less wary of this photographer’s lens than its parents would’ve been.

Though it hardly seems possible to be more adorable than an adult Long-tailed tit, I think the offspring outdo their parents in the cuteness department.

Likewise young Robins, which are even more endearing and much less feisty than the adult versions. And I do think their juvenile plumage is very attractive too.

This little one was my first juvenile Stonechat of the year, spotted last week at the local country park with an adult male. These birds will also be in the process of moving from their more northerly breeding grounds to warmer winter climes.

Oh, what a lovely bottom!

21 Tuesday Jan 2025

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bird bottoms, birding, birdwatching, British birds, long-tailed tit, Long-tailed tit bottom

I’ve been trying to get photos of those gorgeous little fluff bundles, the Long-tailed tits. Typically, given how speedily they flit through the branches, of the 50 odd photos I took yesterday, this is the only sharp one. But, as my title declares, ‘Oh, what a lovely bottom!’.

Little Long-tailed tit

05 Wednesday Jul 2023

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, juvenile birds, juvenile Long-tailed tit, long-tailed tit

As I was standing perfectly still and silent in the thick of a copse of trees and shrubs, staring at leaves and insects and leafmines, the small flock of juvenile Long-tailed tits moving through the greenery, foraging for tiny insects, didn’t notice me, which meant I was able to get a few photos of these adorable wee youngsters.

230705 long-tailed tit juvenile

Little poser

09 Monday Jan 2023

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, long-tailed tit

I always stop when I hear Long-tailed tits, partly because their little flocks are often accompanied by other small birds, which might include something of particular interest, but also because they’re just a joy to watch as they flit from branch to branch, picking up almost invisible invertebrates, hanging upside down or leaning sideways to check every crack and crevice. They’re mostly too quick for sharp photos but this little poser paused for a moment or two on a fence post, just long enough for a couple of reasonable images.

230109 long-tailed tit

Mother to be

14 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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birding, birds' nest, birdwatching, British birds, long-tailed tit, Long-tailed tit nest, Long-tailed tit nest building, nest building

I was enchanted, during this morning’s local meander, to spot a pair of Long-tailed tits nest building – it seemed so appropriate for Mother’s Day, though in this case it may be a few weeks before the female bird becomes a mum.

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The nest was almost totally hidden inside a tangle of bramble branches and, once the bramble leaves grow, will be completely obscured.

210314 long-tailed tit nest (1)

And the nest itself was only about one third built, so I’ve included, below right, a photo of a Long-tailed tit nest that I was shown a couple of years ago, after its occupants had fledged and the bush containing the nest had been chopped down. Of course, I’ll be heading back to this location to follow progress from a suitable distance.

252/366 Stillness

08 Tuesday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, long-tailed tit

Twice today I was reminded of the value of standing still. There were a few spits of rain, so I pushed back against some low trees for shelter while I kept on watching a small flock of birds feeding in the bushes opposite.

200908 long-tailed tits (2)

As I was partly camouflaged and was keeping very still, the birds – the Long-tailed tits in my photos, plus Great and Blue tits, several Willow warblers, and a couple of Robins – mostly ignored me and came relatively close to where I was standing.

200908 long-tailed tits (3)

My stillness was rewarded with some reasonable photos, for a change, and with the joy of being close to these little cuties.

200908 long-tailed tits (1)

200/365 A pack of juveniles

19 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

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#365DaysWild, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, juvenile Long-tailed tit, long-tailed tit

A pack of juveniles they may be but I saw no delinquents here.

190719 long-tailed tit (1) 190719 long-tailed tit (2)

These are the cute little bundles of fluff known officially as Long-tailed tits, and yesterday, at Cosmeston, I followed a flock of perhaps 40 of these, with an assortment of Great and Blue tits and Chiffchaffs, all young birds, as they were feeding.

190719 long-tailed tit (3) 190719 long-tailed tit (4)

Following a shrubby fence line, they pecked about amongst the low trees and bushes, and also ventured out into the field of wildflowers, perching precariously on the stems of tall umbellifers while surveying the surrounding plants for small insects and caterpillars.

190719 long-tailed tit (5) 190719 long-tailed tit (6)

It was a great delight to watch them and, being young, they were not as wary of my presence as adults might be, so I managed to get some reasonable photos.

190719 long-tailed tit (7) 190719 long-tailed tit (8)

119/365 Somebody’s got babies!

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

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#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, caterpillar, Grangemoor Park, long-tailed tit, tit feeding chicks

190429 Long-tailed tit (1)

How cute is this Long-tailed tit I spotted at Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park today? The caterpillar it’s found to feed its chicks is almost as big as it is.

From garbage to glorious

09 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature, parks

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Bee orchid, Blackcap, Brimstone butterfly, Common blue butterfly, Common spotted orchid, Emperor dragonfly, Grangemoor Park, Holly blue butterfly, Large skipper, long-tailed tit, Meadow Brown, Pyramidal orchid, Southern marsh orchid

Day 9 of #30DaysWild saw me at Grangemoor Park, a place that used to be Cardiff’s rubbish dump: when it closed in 1994, it contained an estimated four million cubic metres of garbage, both commercial and household. Now, it’s not only a public park but also a SINC (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation), and is home to a wonderfully diverse range of flora and fauna. My photos show just some of what I discovered there today …