Willow Tit

Posting early for today and back blipped yesterday whilst I remember. 
After what I considered a lay in until just after 8am, I dragged my husband out of bed so we could go out to the Flash before the golf started. 
We arrived soon after 9am and headed to the hides - it was quite cold and the light was dreadful, but I was still hopeful of seeing something of interest. 
No kingfishers at the first hide, but a ton of lapwing and a couple of distant snipe were the pick. At the next hide, one of the regulars was there (I think this is his favourite spot as I've never seen him anywhere else) and said the kingfishers are still about but that there was a couple of Snipe in the reeds close by. They are such funny looking birds with their long beaks and eyes close to the top of their heads. Unfortunately they were obscured by the reeds most of the time, but great to see. The kingfisher put in a couple of appearances, the first time catching a rather large fish compared to it's size which it seemed to have great difficulty in dealing with. The second time it flew to a post nearby but was then chased off by a group of noisy moorhens. Shots were not good because of the light, but again, great to see they are still about. 
We then headed over to Bunting hide to see what was around - this is where the birds are fed every morning. It's still a bit early to have the flocks of tits and finches we normally see in the winter, but there were still a few visitors. My favourite was the little willow tit (or it could be a Marsh tit as they are so similar). Both species are in decline and not so common anymore and actually the RSPB have them as red status, which means that they are globally threatened, and they have had a 50% or more decline in numbers and breeding pairs over the past 25 years. 
There were at least 3 birds, so maybe this is one of their successful breeding grounds, which would be nice. 

Not watching the Russian Grand Prix this weekend as the Golf has taken priority in our house. Fingers crossed for Lewis Hamilton though.