Coal Tit Tannenbaum

"Pee-chew, pee-chew, pee-chew." A coal tit in the Christmas tree. Another of my mediocre pics as the bird was so high up and the light was only on its bottom. The Norway spruce was bought with a root, saw service indoors over a Christmas around fifty years ago, was planted in the garden and now towers over us.

Coal tits are the smallest European tit and quite similar to marsh and willow tits. They can be identified by the white patch on the nape. Their smaller, more slender bills than those of blue or great tits means that they can feed more successfully in conifers. In my experience they are much more wary of humans than other tits. 


Today's poem is An Arab Love-Song by Francis Thompson. http://artsyhonker.net/an-arab-love-song/


I love that "The hunched camels of the night" are cloud shapes observed by travellers in the East. :) A wonderful visceral love song from someone who wants to be everything to his love and gives the "red pavilion" of his heart. Swoon.