Hand Fed

Well, blipped of a Coal Tit today, although it was not the shot I was expecting.

The last couple of days when I have been out trying for a bird shot I have become conscious of a rather tame Coal Tit. The first I was aware of it was when it came to the feeder next to me while other birds kept at a distance. Then on two occasions as I was trying to focus on another bird, it landed for a fraction of a second on the camera lens. What on Earth was it up to? I even got a partial blurry shot of it as it landed the second time. The thought crossed my mind it might be the same Coal Tit that crashed into a window earlier in the year and was blipped keeping warm in Mrs B's hand.

On Wednesday night, David Millward, a professional photographer who specialises in wildlife, was the guest speaker at our local camera club. He gave us lots of good tips including using the right "bait" to get your subject within a reasonable distance. For many song birds he suggested putting out sunflower seeds, which I duly bought the following day.

This afternoon, when the sun put in a brief appearance, I placed some seeds in a small dish to place on a wall where I hoped to get a blip or two. No sooner had I appeared than a little Coal Tit starting flying about in front of me. I held out the dish and to my great surprise it immediately landed on the edge of it, grabbed a seed and flew off. I was astonished and thought it was maybe just a one off. But no, a few minutes later it was back for another. It was time to get the camera and blip the action.

Mrs B was watching what was going on and wanted a piece of the action as well! She placed a few seeds in her hand and within seconds the Coal Tit had landed and taken a seed. This went on for a while and we could see that he was taking the seeds to a bush where he would break open the shell and then fly onto the grass or a tree stump where he would conceal the seed. Here's me thinking it was only squirrels that stored nuts and seeds away for the Winter!

Mrs B and I agreed it was much more rewarding to have a bird feeding out of our hand than holding a concussed one.

I did try and get a shot of Mr Coal Tit in flight, but this will have to wait until a brighter day.

All being well, I rather fancy Mr Coal Tit is going to appear on these pages again soon!