Mumruffin

Long-tailed tit / bushtit (Aegithalos caudatus rosaceous)
These charming little birds are another of my favourites and yet another sign that winter is upon us. At the moment I have about a dozen of them visiting for very short periods about 6 times a day. Their favouritee food is the fat feeder and they hang on there in bunches.
They do not sit still for more than a few seconds but it is easy to hear when they are on the feeders as they chir and chitter noisily - often early in the morning or when dusk is falling. They are very sociable creatures and usually allow me quite close. Even then it is difficult to get a good shot of them.
According to All the Birds of the Air by Francesca Greenoak, there are many nicknames for the long-tailed tit, such as:
From its plumage:
Long-tailed Mag; Long-pod (Midlands)
Long-tailed Pie; French Pie; Dog-tail (Cheshire)
Long-tailed Chittering
Long-tailed Mufflin
Mumruffin; Hedge Mumruffin (Worcestershire, Shropshire)
Ragamuffin
Juffit; Fuffit (East Lothian)

From its nest:
Jack-in-a-bottle; Bottle Tom
Bottle Tit (West Riding, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Shropshire)
Bag (Northamptonshire)
Poke Pudding; Poke Bag (Gloucestershire, Shropshire)
Pudding Bag (Norfolk)
Puddney Poke (Suffolk)
Feather Poke
Oven Bird; Oven Builder (Stirling)
Oven's Nest (Northamptonshire)
Bum Barrel (Nottinghamshire)
Bush Oven (Norfolk)
Can Bottle (Shropshire)
Hedge Jug

Others include:
Bum Towel (Devon)
Bellringer (Kirkcudbright)
Millithrum = Miller's Thumb
Nimble Tailor
Prinpriddle

Strange aren't they?
Tonight one little mumruffin nearly met his maker as the male sparrowhawk must have heard them..... I scared him off with my loud swearing as he gave me such a fright. Shot of him in my blipfolio