Long-tailed Tit ( Aegithalos caudatus )

Not a brilliant shot but it makes a change from the Blue Tits and Great Tits.   During winter we get families of Long-tailed Tits passing through the garden every couple of weeks.  Usually in family groups of 5 or 6 but today only two.  However, it does help to illustrate how we can misjudge the numbers of birds in a garden.  I rarely see more than 5 Blue Tits but ringing studies have shown there could be many times this number pass through the garden in a day.

A man did a study of Blackbirds in his village.  They were colour ringed for easy recognition.  One garden recorded 34 different individuals in a single day.