Penduline Tit - Titchfield Haven 20th January

At last, fourth time lucky, I enter the West Hide at Titchfield Haven and there in front of me are four Penduline Tit, two males and two females. The birds were feeding on the heads of Greater Reedmace (these are not Bulrush as is being commonly claimed) pulling apart the downy clubbed seed heads of the plants for small insects and grubs - the second photograph shows a bird with what appears to be a small beetle grub. These birds have been present at Titchfield since 7th December, with a brief foray to the IBM Lake at Cobham, Portsmouth on 15th and 16th December before disappearing only to reappear at Titchfield again on 29th December. The IBM Lake is a little over 7 miles north-east of Titchfield Haven and it appears remarkable that the birds were firstly found at the lake but then decided to relocate back to Titchfield - seemingly a collective decision of birds that remembered that Titchfield Haven provided good conditions for them. Unfortunately, today in the bright sunshine of the early morning the light from the West Hide was not great so most of my shots are not of great quality, furthermore, none of the shots I took of the male birds are worthy of publication - a good reason to go back for more views!

Note the small grub in the bill of this bird