Bumbarrels on parade
There’s a small group of Long-Tailed Bushtits calling overhead. They’re vibrating a ‘Tseee-Tseee’ call amongst the empty branches as they move through. They need to keep everyone together in these bitterly cold days. They’re going to need each other’s body heat in the bitterly cold nights that follow.
Bumbarrels is one of my favourite names for them. I wonder how far these have travelled?
One of the joys of last spring was watching the parents and aunts and uncles provisioning a nest nearby. Here’s the full story.
The Caterpillar Service
The Caterpillar Service – Day Eight I only have a snatched hour with the Long-Tailed Bushtits today. I still get some lovely views. I've been trying… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Seven Today the Long-Tailed Bushtits are working as hard as ever to gather invertebrates: After a week I'm much happier with… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Six Here's the scene next to a busy public footpath: It may appear tranquil but deep within the brambles is a… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Five The caterpillars keep on coming. Beak-fulls of them. Green ones, brown ones, grey ones and orange ones; they've all been… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Four It's Day Four of photographing Long-Tailed Bushtits for me. After all, what is there to do when I've got no… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Three It's Day Three of following the Long-Tail Bushtit family on waste ground near my house in South Devon. I say… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day Two Yesterday I spent five hours on a public footpath overlooking a Long-Tailed Bushtits' nest. I'm happy that I wasn't disturbing… read more
The Caterpillar Service – Day One The call of the Long-Tailed Bushtit is quite distinctive. It must be, because even I can recognise it. 'Tsurp', they… read moreI can’t wait to see them all again. Maybe I’ll be able to spot the position of their nest again and get some more photographs? That’s something to hold onto in these dark days.