Long-tailed Tit

Having inadvertantly started a segment theme, I had considered doing a photograph of a transverse section of a citrus fruit, to add colour and freshness to another dull January day. But, my plans changed when I saw a flock of tits moving through the garden. Although blue tits were the most frequent, there were also at least five long-tailed tits, as well as a great tit and a coal tit.

I think long-tailed tits are my favourite tit. They look like little balls of fluff with impossibly long tails and tiny, tiny beaks. They're very sociable and tend to be seen moving through an area in a family party, calling to each other incessantly.

I tend to hear them in the garden more often than I see tham, having become attuned to their call when we cared for a young long-tailed tit, who had been caught by a cat. We weren't very optimistic that it would survive, but it was a tough little thing, and thrived on a diet of small insects gathered from the garden. It's hard to believe how quickly they can get through aphids until you have to feed one.

Because it was so young we had to help it learn to fly. This was done in the living-room, where we also kept tame rats. Just when we thought it was ready to be released it landed on the rat's cage, and promptly got bitten in the foot. However, amazingly it recovered from that and was successfully re-united with a family party of long-tailed tits that were hanging round the garden, probably its parents and siblings.

After yesterdays lameness, I decided to take Gemma to the vet this morning. Apparently her leg injury is self-inflicted, probably because she's been constantly licking a painful joint. The vet suspects she has osteoarthritis (not a great surprise) and next week she'll be going back for blood tests and an x-ray. Thankfully she's insured! In the meantime she's been put on antibiotics to treat the infected wound, and has to wear an old sock on her leg, to stop her licking it. I think she feels this is rather undignified!