I recenty installed a new feeding station in the garden. Determined that my local birds wouldn't suffer too much during this really harsh spell we're having. Loaded with suet, peanuts, mixed seed, fat balls and niger seed it's a michellin 3-star avian dining outlet!
It's had birds round it constantly since it went up and I've obviously been keeping a close eye on what turns up. Today I managed this photograph of a Coal Tit that has a very cold grey mantle and looks a dead cert for a
'Continental' Coal Tit (
Periparus ater ater).
Chris, seems slightly olive-tinged rather than a cold steely blue-grey. Perhaps the photo isn't such a good representation of its appearance in the field.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. I'm not sure I totally agree with you though. I'll have to try to get a photo of another of our local Coal Tits from which this bird clearly differed. I'm struggling to see olive tones in the mantle but then again the photo has an overall bluish tinge which I think has to do with the weird light due to the snow
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