Tit Elation at Farmoor Reservoir 28th February 2023

A quiet Saturday afternoon. Dull and grey. The wind cold and from the north. The reservoir crowded as it is most weekends now with yachts and windsurfers and the ducks having flown to the more peaceful waters of nearby Dix Pit at Stanton Harcourt.

What to do? I walked to the hide overlooking Thames Water's small Pinkhill Reserve with a mind to practice with my new camera by photographing the tits coming to the feeders  that hang close to the hide. My mood matching the weather I settled on a hard wooden bench. Enthusiasm in short supply. 

I set about my self imposed task and gradually, imperceptibly my mood lifted.It was impossible to be unmoved by the sheer vitality and beauty of what are still regarded as commonplace birds, familiar to one and all. Sitting so close to the birds I could hear the soft whirrr of  wings as they flew to and from the feeders outside the open window.

Not so easy to photograph however as the birds were rarely still for more than a second or two. Being exposed and away from cover is anathema to them. They are especially vulnerable while extracting seed from the feeders. Constantly alert and flighty and with good reason as it was no surprise to see a Sparrowhawk fly from around the hide, low and menacing but failing this time to seize a victim. It will return of that there is no doubt

Once the Sparrowhawk had gone there was silence, not a sound as no bird will call for fear of attracting the predator's attention. The feeders previously so busy with a bustling procession of arriving and departing tits now hung untouched, gently swinging in the wind. For five minutes or more it remained so but  slowly the birds returned, cautiously slipping through the twigs of the surrounding hawthorns and all is as before..