Bearded Tits

It  was that time of year when we visit Farlington Marsh near Portsmouth to get our year tick of Bearded Tits. We arrived around 0830 and decided that we would stick to one species rather than a general walkabout with the camera. As we walked down the western bank towards the viewpoint we were overwhelmed by traffic noise - how on earth could we hear anything above such a din? As I sat on the low concrete wall, in what was now fairly warm sunshine, I thought I could hear "pinging" - no surely I was imagining it, then a flock of 8 Beardies flew in low over the reeds and landed some twenty yards to my left.  Slowly more small flocks arrived and the birds, which had been feeding low down in the reeds, began to perch on the tops. The estimate of how many birds were present rose to 30, then 50, now 60+. These birds are difficult to count as they are highly mobile, the 60 count is conservative, it could easily have been 100. Martin counted a departing flock numbering 35.



About in numbers and willing to perch in the open.