I saw Long-tailed Tits up the Welcombe Hills

Long-tailed Tits are common enough in gardens and up the Welcombe Hils. Like other members of the tit family they are busy little birds and seldom pause in their search for food as they work the hedgerows in parties. Their characteristic 'si-si-si'  is sometimes the only clue to their presence save for a fleeting glimpse of tail as they pass overhead between the trees.

I was lucky to be below a hawthorn tree in the Clopton Field next to the orchard when a flock of these tiny birds passed by singly and in groups. I took dozens of photos but only one or two caught it right as it kept moving this way and that.

If you are lucky to have these visit your garden feeders then you will have seen the black, white and pink plumage of the round body and long tail. You nay not have seen the pink rim of its eyes and the tiny beak in an otherwise featureless head.