Bearded Tits

male Bearded Tit

I thought it was best to title this post in an honest way such that nobody starts reading this thinking they’ll find something new only to be disappointed by just finding even more pictures of Bearded Tits!

It’s still snowing and we now have over a metre in the garden. It is not that tempting to be out just now but a bit of fresh air is always a good idea. I chose a quick trip to Fornebu and recorded fifteen birds of four species: seven Waxwing (sidensvans), one Fieldfare (gråtrost), one Magpie (skjære) and unsurprisingly the six Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis).

When I arrived at the reedbed at Koksa I positioned myself where I have been seeing the birds and waited and scanned but could not hear or see anything other than falling snow. I walked the length of the reedbed still having NOTHING but snow and then returned to the spot. A couple of minutes later: “ping, ping” and then after another minute the birds popped up in exactly the same place and then fed high in the reeds just 5 metres away. The bird that was closest was as usual the ringed female which seems to be just that little bit less shy than the others. The birds dropped down to the base of the reeds a few times and each time popped up again a fraction closer. Eventually they were right by the fence only three metres away. I hoped that they would come to the reeds on my side but that was obviously a too greedy wish.

These birds look like they are becoming my new Hawkie but whilst they are scarce and very smart birds they do not compare in the wow factor that Hawkie had last winter.

A new day offers new photo opportunities but basically I think now that the only thing that can improve the pictures is better light and maybe an interesting behavioural feature. I did take some video though which despite being hand held isn’t too bad. I filmed in HD so remember to chose HD in the bottom right corner.

three birds

points for aeshetic appeal?

ringed female but despite the close range I am not able to get any details from the ring

four birds

the closest they came. Lens at 150mm uncropped

behind bars. Same bird with lens at 500mm uncropped