Periparus ater....Zwarte Mees or Coal tit. This little creature one sees more frequently in a pine forest...especially to breed or foraging. I have seen them before out hiking, but never where we live. Pine trees are not native to my part of the country. I was taking another of my famous pauzes and saw this little guy coming down to bathe and then later to eat seeds that I had placed for his cousins. I caught the markings though and knew that it was different from the usual suspects that inhabit my garden. After doing a bit of reading up in this chappy, I decided to place some pine cones out in the Buddleja. It was an immediate hit with the newcomers. One of the special markings that sets him apart from other tits is the white stripe on the back of its head. Here is another pic of him standing ans assuming a pose. That is a cheeky blighter isn't he! I find that this bird has large feet for its size. At any rate, the introductions have been made now and I await its next foto shoot. I am sure that he is also waiting....ermmmm expecting, perhaps even. Addendum: It is interesting to note that this bird was featured on an Christmas card that I received this year from a fellow beekeeper.
Those are pretty little things, aren't they? We have them around here, but I haven't seen many of them in my garden.
Seeing birds that will never be in our garden is such a pleasure--expands our birding experiences vastly! That Coal Tit is adorable, as are most birds. We have a bird with a white stripe on its head, the white crown sparrow, but they are pretty common around here, and not nearly as pretty as your Coal Tit!
They're great little birds aren't they? We have them as regular visitors here and it's always a pleasure to watch their antics.
Yes DROOPY, they are pretty and such interesting acrobats. They are hardly still for even a moment...but it is new in the lottie. Birds do the trick for me. Thanks for your comments. I had to right away go and look up that White Crown Sparrow that you mentioned. Sheesh--that is a pretty thing! You are lucky that it is so plentiful there. EILEEN--You are lucky as well--to have so many in your back yard. I hope that I can keep them coming to the lottie. So far, I have only seen two, and they usually do not come to the feeding place at the same time...they switch-off.