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Tag Archives: Marsh tit

Hungry Marsh tits

11 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Marsh tit

On my Christmas Day walk I wanted to spread some good cheer to my fellow creatures so, with humans being off limits, I went bearing seed to the small hungry birds in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood. And I was delighted, and more than a little amazed, when the first bird to appear, before I’d even spread the seed about, was one of the resident Marsh tits, which came and sat in the bramble bush just a foot from my hand, waiting impatiently for me to back off. So, I was able to get probably my best photos yet of this charming little bird.

210111 marsh tit (1)

And, though I missed seeing a Marsh tit on my first visit to Cosmeston for 2021, I did see one on my second, and, once again, it was the first bird I saw when I got to one of their regular feeding spots. In fact, this tit was poking around for seed at the bottom of the tree stump, and then perched up on the bushes until I had sprinkled the stump top with seed. What a little star!

210111 marsh tit (2)

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34/366 Clever tit

03 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Marsh tit

My walk through Cogan Wood this afternoon was punctuated by stops, at tree stumps, a sculpted dead tree known locally as the dragon tree, by benches, and at particular shrubs and bushes, where I dispensed seed to the hungry small birds that immediately mobbed me.

200203 Marsh tit (1)

I was delighted that one of those hungry small birds was the resident Marsh tit, as I hadn’t seen it for a few weeks. And I was very impressed with its intelligence – whereas the myriad Great and Blue tits flit in, grab a single seed, and flit away into the bushes to eat it, the Marsh tit has learnt to grab at least two, once three seeds in its tiny beak before flying quickly off. What a clever little tit!

200203 Marsh tit (2)

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341/365 Marsh tit

07 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Marsh tit

Having stocked up on bird seed yesterday (the littlies are rather partial to sunflower hearts, I’ve found), I was delighted today to tempt out one of the resident Marsh tits in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood.

191207 Marsh tit (1)

Actually, it wasn’t all that difficult. I was mobbed by Great and Blue tits as soon as I began sprinkling the seeds on an old tree stump, with one particularly cheeky Great tit grabbing a seed from my container before I’d even started tipping them out.

191207 Marsh tit (2)

I wasn’t sure the Marsh tit would come but it soon appeared and, although initially a little hesitant to compete with the other birds, it didn’t take long to summon its courage and was picking up 2 or 3 seeds at a time before flying off to find somewhere quiet to eat them.

191207 Marsh tit (3)

We’re lucky to have this bird at Cosmeston as it’s now an ‘uncommon and thinly distributed resident breeder’, according to the Glamorgan Bird Club’s Eastern Glamorgan Bird Report No.56, and these tits were only recorded in 8 locations in our county in 2017.

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January at Cosmeston

01 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, parks

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, chaffinch, coal tit, Common Gull, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Gadwall, Great tit, long-tailed tit, Marsh tit, nuthatch, Pochard, Reed bunting, robin, shoveler

180201 1 Long-tailed tits & Blackbird

7 January Gale-force winds were blasting across the exposed areas around the lake today but, with blue skies overhead, the park was full of people out walking, despite the chill. The wee birds were hungry and I was greeted with much happy peeping wherever I scattered seed and virtually mobbed at the dragon tree in Cogan Woods, by Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed tits, Dunnocks and Robins, Chaffinches and Nuthatches, Blackbirds and a Reed bunting were all happy to accept any tasty little morsels.

180201 2 Reed bunting
180201 3 Chaffinch
180201 4 Nuthatch
180201 5 Great tit
180201 6 Robin
180201 7 Coal tit

On the lakes the birds were mostly hunkered down, as it was too windy for flying. Teal, Gadwall, Pochard and a Shoveler were some of the highlights.

180201 8 Shoveler
180201 9 Gadwall & Pochard

17 January After much scrutinising of the huge numbers of gulls that you nearly always find at Cosmeston, I spotted my first Common gull of the year.

180201 10 Common gull

23 January A regular Cosmeston-going birding friend had reported an adult Yellow-legged gull the previous day and I fancied a good walk so I headed to Cossie for a look. These was no sign of the gull but I was delighted to see one of the Marsh tits that frequents a particular spot in Cogan Woods, and it became bird number 67 on this year’s list, before I strode quickly home in pouring rain (yep, drenched!).

180201 11 Marsh tit

I’ve been to Cosmeston a couple more times this month but those outings were more about braving the rain  to satisfy my cravings for fresh air and exercise than nature-watching, particularly as it’s been too wet to have camera and binoculars out and about. Let’s hope February is a bit drier.

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December at Cosmeston

28 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, mammal, nature, parks, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, brown rat, bullfinch, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Fieldfare, Great spotted woodpecker, long-tailed tit, Marsh tit, nuthatch, Stonechat, Tufted duck

It was fairly quiet bird-wise on my first monthly visit to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park on 2 December, though there were still good numbers of the various thrushes (Mistle, Song, Redwing and Blackbird) around. A Great spotted woodpecker in the west paddock was a nice surprise – I initially thought it a Jay when I saw that peachy belly. The Tufted ducks amused, as always, and, while I sat watching them, the Brown rat I’d seen before at that particular spot came snuffling around for food. There were two more rats foraging by the boardwalk near the café.

171228 Cosmeston (1)

171228 Cosmeston (2)
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It’s a thrush takeover! On 6 December, I’d scarcely left the house to walk to Cosmeston than I was spotting Redwings, Song thrushes, and a Mistle thrush, plus Goldfinches and Chaffinches, in the trees just across the road. And when I got to Cosmeston it was more – much more – of the same, plus the first Fieldfares I’ve seen there. In Cogan Wood, the little birds were hungry so I shared my flapjack with them – there were even two Nuthatches and a half dozen Long-tailed tits picking up the crumbs on the ground. And the prize for the most colourful birds goes to the pair of Bullfinch that were munching on hogweed seeds.

171228 Cosmeston (5)
171228 Cosmeston (6)
171228 Cosmeston (7)
171228 Cosmeston (4)

On 15 December, I finally got a reasonable, though not brilliant photo of a Fieldfare – they are very skittish so it’s hard to get close to them. I finally found a spot behind the berry trees they were feasting in, then just had to be patient and wait for one to pop up to the top of a tree.

171228 Cosmeston (8)

In Cogan Wood, one of the resident Marsh tits popped out to say hello – first sighting I’ve had since earlier in the year as they seem to disappear during the breeding season. And there was a Stonechat at the top end of the west paddock. There had been a pair of Stonechats in that area in the autumn but they seemed to have disappeared when the park staff mowed that field, so it was good to see one there again.

171228 Cosmeston (9)
171228 Cosmeston (10)

Something else happened at Cossie during this visit, something that’s never happened to me before. A squirrel climbed up my leg, not once but four times – the first time it grabbed my finger, the second time it touched my camera. I didn’t have food but it obviously thought I did. It certainly made me laugh.

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A Tale of Two Tits

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, coal tit, Marsh tit, Periparus ater, Poecile palustris

This post has been on my list of things to do since the summer….

161220-coal-tit-2

I love all Britain’s tits: they’re almost all tiny and very sweet, often cheeky, always entertaining, occasionally rather tame, and frequently friendly. Though less colourful than its cousins the Great and Blue, I think the Coal tit (Periparus ater) is a very handsome bird. It tends to be more timid than its cousins as well, but will feed from garden peanut feeders and often joins its fellow tits in large flocks that move together through gardens, parks and areas of woodland looking for the seeds and insects they like to eat.

161220-coal-tit-1
161220-marsh-tit-1

I was very lucky earlier this year to be alerted by my fellow members of the Glamorgan Bird Club to the presence of a pair of Marsh tits (Poecile palustris) in the woodland of a local country park. These birds look very similar to Coal tits (and, apparently, also to Willow tits, which I have not yet seen) but can easily be told apart by a look at the tops of their heads. The Coal tit (above left) has a white cap on top of its head, whereas the Marsh tit (above right) does not.

161220-marsh-tit-2

I was particularly delighted to see the Marsh tits as, sadly, their population has undergone a dramatic decline of at least 50% in the past 25 years so they are now considered globally threatened and have been added to the Red List of endangered creatures. Although they can be found throughout England and Wales, they are more often seen in the southern parts of both countries. They will feed from garden bird feeders so, if you live in the south and have the space for a feeder, do please help out these little birds with regular supplies of seeds and nuts.

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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