What a smart bird ......

Great eye contact and plumage detail in this image, I think that its a female as the black stripe on  its chest was fairly narrow and does not extend far down its underside.

What a pristine example of the species.

Air raid precaution .......

I was watching this Great Tit when it suddenly looked up and froze, sure enough the silhouette of a Sparrow Hawk passed over, not in hunting mode but a potential threat.

Its amazing how these little birds remain alert whilst going about their daily business both individually and as mixed flocks in a given area. Blackbirds in particular seem to be very alert to potential dangers.

I suppose the question is, was it alerted by nearby birds or did it sense the presence of the raptor itself ?.

Eye eye.

I was quite pleased with the eye contact of this Great Tit image, one of the bigger tits they do seem to get bossed about by their smaller relatives when feeding on seed together.

What a Great Tit .......

Common, widespread and colourful,  always a willing subject for a quick image as the leaves continue to fall and ambient temperatures start to drop away as winter continues its advance.

Quite a heavy frost here in Northamptonshire this morning.

Whilst Redwings and Fieldfares are in the area they are notoriously challenging to get close to before they fly away en mass, I will continue trying as I am a great believer that persistence overcomes resistance !.  

A truly Great Tit

The largest member of the Tit family, the Great Tit, the male has a more pronounced  black chest  stripe that gets wider towards the base. 

Perhaps not as widespread as you might think with just in excess of two million pairs in the Uk

and currently increasing slightly.

Like the Goldfinch, the Great Tit has benefitted from the popularity and growth in garden feeders that has occurred in recent years.

All of these images were taken in the fringes of woodland at Grafton Underwood, Northants.