I had a day at home today. The Landrover was in the garage having some minor work done so I had the opportunity to test my culinary skills (and the slow-cook function on our new cooker). Once the casserole was prepared, and started on the long journey to the plate, I decided that to make the most of the sunny weather I should set my camera up on the patio and capture the comings and goings at our feeding station. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Chaffinches and Bullfinches all performed admirably (I’m sure they were bemused as to why the man who usually just walks up to the feeders to fill them was sitting in a deckchair fully camouflaged…). Then, the moment I’d been waiting for, a Willow Tit; now scarce or absent throughout much of Britain, the best place I’ve found to watch them is my own garden. But I’ve never managed to capture an image of one before now. So scarce that a good friend of mine had seen nearly 400 different species of bird in Britain before he saw his first Willow Tit. Not only are they scarce they’re a real ID problem as well because of the very, very similar Marsh Tit. There isn’t a 100% foolproof way to separate these two species although there are some very good differentiating marks which, when combined in one bird, lead you to the correct identification. Ironically Marsh Tit is absent from our garden list but Willow Tit can be seen without having to wait more than about 5 minutes…which really makes me wonder about the field guide suggestion that Willow Tit is an infrequent visitor to feeding stations. Perhaps the authors were just looking in the wrong place?