Coal Tit

When I first started feeding our garden birds, I bought an ornamental bird table with a tiled roof and decorative finial in my innocence because I thought it looked so attractive. It stands on the patio not far from our family room window and does indeed look lovely, but I soon learnt that the birds prefer to have cover nearby to protect them from predators. I then decided to hang several feeders from the branches of our twisted hazel tree, which has a very convenient row of well-established shrubs nearby, from which the birds dart back and forth to the hazel tree very happily.

However, I still hang one feeder from the bird table because it’s much easier for me to get close up photos of it from indoors. Today this dear little coal tit was brave enough to venture over to it, and I was rewarded with this shot of him as he landed on the perch.

Memo to self: Stop slacking and give those bird feeders a thorough clean with hot soapy water and disinfectant. (Been a bit pre-occupied lately.)