**** Pauls Blog ****: Yellow haired punks! & Cotton buds?

An early morning rush to get the chores done worked wonders for the planned day out at the local woods "Apley" the target species for today was Goldcrests, Treecreepers and Longtailed tits. Arriving at the x parking area, they have closed this dealers paradise and are busy doing something really good with the woods after over thirty years of non-management. Its well worth a walk around with all the opening of the overgrown woods.

So knowing the favoured areas for crests I headed of with a wary eye for other species, it did not take long before I could hear them, the Yellow haired punks with their saucer sized eyes and fast moving dance !!

I fully expected to find them mixed in with a Tit flock but today, probably due to the disturbance, they were in ones and twos around the conifers and brambles.

It took about 40 seconds to call them out to the edge of the branches using a little pisher! I am amazed at how well this little device works, a piece of ceder and a pewter insert, I think you can get them at RSPB reserves nowadays. So having decided to take the flash today for the shadows, snap? oh! yes Loads and loads. It is not often thus opportunity presents itself.

With all of them sporting nice yellow socks and matching hair they were a real joy to work with.

So with all these yellow feet I can only assume they were all juveniles, there is no reference in the Collins on this feature?

Whilst doing this a Treecreeper joined in the "Whats all the fuss about?" group. So he/it got done as well, and what was real cool it was well vocal, an added bonus.

When you have the time and can hear them take a little bit of your day and listen to a song that is very nice, if you can use nice to describe a song! these days perhaps it should cool, wicked or awesome man, or anyone one of the myriad ways the young have of describing things that are "Bad!" (Nice)

I knew I should not have put a big piccy in here needs loads of link text.

An old person I once knew cutely described the Longtailed tit as a flying cotton bud! and I think that when fluffed up in the winter that is exactly what they look like as they flit about in their groups picking of the slow and unwary insects etc.

There was two other things that caught my attention today, one was the stunning new males, freshly moulted and already ganging up on the females, also forming bachelor groups and grunt whistling, seeing who could outdo the others in their lifts. The other thing was a good example of just what not to do with discarded baling twine and or fishing line, and yes I know the vast majority of worm drowners are conscientious but hey there are the odd one or two who really do not give a darn!!! Some time ago some fishermen caught a large Carp and for what ever buried it, only for it to be found sometime later by a Dog walker who called the police! after SOCO forensics etc. had finished it was identified through dental records as the fingers were missing!!!! Check out Shropshire star archives!