Teacher Teacher

Says the great tit, its well-known call has been likened to a wheelbarrow with a wonky wheel. That's just one of its many vocalisations, a birder mate told me that if one hears an unfamiliar bird call chances are it's a great tit.

Jazzy dog and I staked out our glasshouse drainpipe nest again today. A robin and a pair of linnets sang to us as we waited for the great tits. He appeared first and was initially wary. She arrived and seemed to be a gibbering wreck. She perched with her wings trembling and then disappeared. At one point Jazzy sat bored, with her frisbee in her mouth, very close to the pipe. This provoked some loud and continuous churring.

The birds wouldn't approach the nest until Jazz trotted away. The male, who I think is on the right of my pic, was bold and looks bright-eyed and dapper. The poor female is scruffy, careworn and tentative. I got a pic of one of them removing a fecal sac. It's a bit blurry but interesting so I've added it to extras.