A couple of very different birds proving to be highlights over the past few days-
Our newest entry on the yearlist is one of our smallest birds- a Coal Tit on the feeders outside the office window. Coal Tits are similar in colour to Great Tits although with a white stripe down the back of the head. They're even smaller than a Blue Tit and the only resident bird on the reserve that's any tinier is the Goldcrest. Combined with a Barn Owl hunting over the reserve on Friday this takes our year list up to 65. We're a little bit behind on last year, but the grey skies and very strong winds have made it hard to get out birding and especailly hard to see any of our smaller songbirds out in the open. Once the wardenin gteam is back at full strength after the New Year break I'm sure the total will climb fairly quickly.
In contrast to our tiny Coal Tit, the most entertaining sighting of the day were what has to be two of the biggest birds ever seen from an RSPB reserve- two seven foot tall Ostriches that have just moved on to one of the neighbouring farms. They're a bit distant but can be seen from the visitor centre with binoculars and have been incredibly fun to watch. I don't think we can *quite* squeeze them onto the yearlist without there being official enquiry but they've definitely gone in the sightings book!