On a walk around the garden on Saturday it was not only the people who were enjoying the plants. The birds were enjoying the garden too. We were very pleased to see among other things a long-tailed tit, a great tit, a tree creeper and a gold crest. The gold crest was particularly elusive hiding in the bottom of the Azalea bushes, a great spot but not such a great photo. The tree creeper was characteristically creeping up the trunks of the trees on the conifer walk then flying down to the bottom of the next tree and hop back up again. The long-tailed tit is one of Britain’s smallest birds. Looking at birds through binoculars (or the zoom of a camera) really allows you to appreciate them. We have some beautiful birds resident and visitor to the British Isles.

long-tailed tit. Spotted in the Copse perching here on the twig of an Acer palmatum.

Male great tit. Spotted in a Castanea sativa

Treecreeper. Spotted on a Magnolia on the conifer walk.

Gold crest. Hiding from the camera in the base of an Azalea.

For an interesting article on how the weather can affect survival rates of the long-tailed tit follow the link bellow

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/26687503