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Long-tailed
tit early nester |
17.06.2000
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Ó
Michael Woods |
They
were as pretty as a picture. A family of long-tailed tits
streamed out of the hedge and gathered in apple trees which
were still white with blossom. It was difficult to count the
tits accurately as they flitted through the foliage, but
there must have been about a dozen. Two were hard-worked
adults busy gathering insects and feeding them to their
brood. The rest were young tits, still recognisable by their
darker heads and the yellow edge to mouths that gaped
greedily to accept their parents' offerings.
The
charm of the scene was enhanced by a pair of blackcaps
feeding in the same trees. I had been watching the blackcaps
feeding together, the male interspersing his foraging with
bursts of song while the female concentrated on gathering
insects. The two species made an interesting contrast in
their nesting. The long-tailed tits have raised a family
before the blackcaps have laid their eggs, and probably not
even started to make a nest. So the long-tailed tits were at
least one month ahead in their breeding, and perhaps twice
that time if the three or four weeks needed to build the
intricate, feather-lined nest are added.
The
obvious difference between the two species is that the
blackcap has to make its way back from Africa, while the
long-tailed tit can start thinking about nesting as soon as
winter's grip is relaxed. The puzzle for me is that my early
long-tailed tits have now finished nesting for the year, but
my tardy blackcaps will probably go on to rear two families.
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