Long-tailed Tit

Cuter!
Well, this was a turn up for the books; I almost blipped a mallard!
I spent a long while at Mount Pond this morning: the brisk wind made me think that I'd only stay briefly, but then the sun blinked out from behind the clouds and a family appeared with bread, so I stayed! I had a lovely time: the sun eventually emerged gloriously, and all of the ducks were positively aglow in the unseasonally warm light. I very much enjoyed admiring and photographing the vivid colours of their iridescent plumage (mallards, shovelers, and tufted ducks...).

By lunchtime I'd narrowed down my selection and chosen a colourful mallard for my blip, but then I went out in the afternoon and had a gap to fill before meeting a friend (over by Wandsworth Common), so I went for a wander around the pond there since the light was so nice... I didn't take many pictures of the waterfowl, but was captivated by the sound of all the songbirds singing in the trees. There was a fantastic murmuration of starlings very high up in the trees on the common, and the blue tits were merrily bobbing in the branches (again, rather too high up for clear photographs), but then a pair of long-tailed tits landed near me in bushes right by the edge of the pond, and I spend about 30 minutes creeping around as they flitted hyper-actively from bush to tree to bush. They tended to stay deeper amongst the twisted branches, but I eventually got this clear shot, and I think it is simply too cute for words (eep, look at its tiny little beak!).

So, I blip this because I've been trying to photograph these little tits for ages, whereas I think I can reproduce my mallard picture on any sunny day...