Exciting news at Loch Leven over the weekend - the first sighting of bearded tits on the NNR.
First spotted on Saturday morning, the birds were seen in a patch of reedbed on the north of the loch. The birds were subsequently seen again this morning.
It's thought that the birds may have originated from the population on the Tay. Other bearded tit sightings over the weekend indicate wider movement of the birds, as beardies have been recorded in Invergowrie, the Isle of May and on the Ythan in Aberdeenshire.
Iain Malzer is currently doing a PhD at the Tay reedbeds, looking at different aspects of the bearded tit population and is particularly interested in recording their movements. Along with the Tay Ringing Group, he's been ringing beardies to gather data about the population size, age structure, survival and distribution. Many of the birds Iain has handled have been colour-ringed to make them easier to spot at a distance, all the birds have a unique colour combination and he'd be very interested to hear from anyone who spots one of his birds.
If you happen to see any beardies around Loch Leven then please drop Iain an email, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you - i.malzer.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Excellent news. I've still never seen a bearded tit even after a couple of visits to Tay reed beds earlier this year. Was lucky enough to see a marsh harrier though.
I'll need to put my twtcher hat on and pay a visit to Loch Leven soon.