Marsh tit

After a dire morning with more heavy rain, the sun came out after lunch, though there was very little warmth in it, unlike yesterday. I'd spent the morning writing, so felt justified in taking Rosie up to Thorpe Wood for a quick walk. The birds have really started singing and I was surrounded by the repetitive calls of great tits, blue tits and robins, all of whom are clearly establishing territories. I had a good view of a tree creeper foraging on the rugged trunk of an oak, but the highlight of my visit was watching this marsh tit carefully extracting seeds from the lesser burdocks that are growing profusely in one of the coppice plots.

Mash tits and willow tits are remarkably similar in appearance, and may be confused, particularly as they can co-exist in the same habitat. Moreover, both have undergone severe declines and contractions in their ranges since the 1970s, and are now red-listed species. The causes of this are not known for certain, but may include woodland drainage, losses of dead wood and a thinning of the shrub layer due to overgrazing by deer. Willow tit seems to be retreating northwards, whereas marsh tit appears to be retreating southwards. Rather worryingly, marsh tit has also declined in France and elsewhere in north-west Europe, and on such a scale that conservationists now say its European status can no longer be considered ‘secure’.

A clear photograph is useful in confirming the identity, and this one shows several characteristics of the marsh tit, particularly the glossy cap, neat black bib and lack of a pale area on the wing. The habitat also suggests marsh tit, as they tend to frequent mature or semi-mature deciduous woodland, where they can often be found grovelling in the understory and may be remarkably bold. However, the clincher is the call - the marsh tit’s diagnostic call is often described as a‘sneezing’ pitchou. The willow tit’s most distinctive call is a loud, full, emphatic, deep, deliberate and scolding djur djur djur or a more nasal chay chay chay. This one was definitely a sneezer!