Tits in Snow

The weather forecast painted a bleak picture for our wildlife.

With snow having fallen in parts of the UK it does not take long for that well stocked bird table to become covered in a white blanket. The natural foods of our birds suffer the same fate – but at least we can brush the snow off the bird table and perhaps create a bit of shelter to keep the food which we supply available.

The members of the tit family suffer quickly in a cold snap because their tiny bodies lose heat rapidly even when they puff up their feathers to hold more air and to insulate themselves.

In the early evening I recently came across something I had never actually seen before – a small flock of Long Tailed Tits were preparing for their night’s rest in a clump of ivy on top of an old stone wall. There was much fluttering and twittering as they gradually huddled together to provide communal body warmth – I resisted the temptation to get a camera and risk dispersing them - so to illustrate this week’s ramblings you’ll have to make do with my friendliest Great Tit!

Plenty of fatty and high protein food is what we should be supplying – I’m upping the number of peanut and fat ball feeders for this time of the year, and hoping that the TWOOTZ drivers manage to get along our tiny country roads……..