Blue tit (Parus caeruleus)

Its colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green make the blue tit one of the most attractive resident garden birds. Almost any garden with a peanut feeder will attract them and they readily breed in nestboxes. In winter they form flocks with other tit species and a garden with four or five at a bird table at any one time, may be feeding 20 or more.

These birds were taken at my local wildlife reserve close by the winter feeding station. The site is managed by Durham Wildlife Trust and they have made the set up is particularly photographer friendly with various cut outs in the fence panels to allow photos to be taken of the birds at the feeding stations. 

Even allowing for their helpfulness I still prefer to move slightly away from this are, and the other photographers, to capture the birds in a more natural setting devoid of bird feeders etc. There are always plenty of birds in the area so they rest and await their turn in the nearby trees, some of the birds wait patiently but others especially the Great Tits muscle in and throw their weight around. The bottom photo of the Blue Tit shows the bird slightly cowering as it had just been mobbed by one of the over eager Great Tits and lost its place in the queue.

I used a monopod to steady my camera with long and heavy lens, as this gave me more control than my usual tripod set up.