Zorro

'I still can't see it!!' I wailed as a few guys with bins fixed their gaze intently on a far corner of the lake. Not on my own with this problem there ensued a few directions to help everyone which included post counting , thistle heads peeking up, letters on a lorry parked on the road in the distance, just to get an idea of it's whereabouts! Some of us still couldn't see the little chap even after all the prompting!!  Peering through a largish lens with a shallow depth of field it wasn't an easy task to catch sight of this gorgeous little bird with it's being so beautifully camouflaged against the bulrushes on the lake side. You can't imagine how overjoyed I was to see the pair finally this afternoon.

Nimbly climbing on the thinest stalks, bobbing up and down the rushes in search of insects and spiders they were a joy to watch..when you finally managed to catch sight of them. Check out his little mask - I have to call him Zorro

The talk of the local and not so local twitchers - this Penduline Tit has rocked up with it's mate in Gloucestershire coming all the way from Eurasia. Their territory spreads as far as Morocco,  Siberia and Japan. 

 They are called penduline because they build hanging pouch shaped nests skilful constructed on the end of a hanging branch usually over hanging water interwoven with seed hairs of willow, aspen and bulrush. They are passerines in that their feet are adapted for perching with 3 backward facing toes and one forward - very long toes by the look of it too.