Etherow Park Marsh Tit

I popped along to Etherow Park in Marple at the weekend, and I was on the look out for a Marsh Tit. A very unusual bird for Stockport and the Manchester area in general. I had seen one the previous week in Norfolk, but quite fancied ticking this closer to home, and it was handily spending a lot of its time around a feeding station and hide. This meant that I could sit for a couple of hours and just enjoy what nature brought to me.
It seemed that it was bringing every other Tit species apart from the Marsh variety. It was cold with the odd downpour thrown in, but it meant the birds were quite active and gave me plenty of opportunity to photograph them at relatively close quarters. All of them had wonderful plumage and they looked in good shape and set for Spring.

The Marsh Tit don't show while I was there, but here is the bird I photographed last week at Sculthorpe Moor.

One of the many Blue Tits that was busy at the feeding station.

The Coal Tit. I was very grateful of the hide to be able to photograph this bird. They're so fast, but this guy was very comfortable, and I was even able to photograph it eating. A first for me, as they normally bolt off to the safety of a tree to eat.

Eating a sunflower heart from between it's tiny feet.

A very handsome and shiny looking Great Tit.

Sculthorpe Moor

One of the sites that I've grown very fond of in Norfolk is Sculthorpe Moor, run by the Hawk and Owl Trust. It's usually quiet, but it has good boardwalk paths through the woodland and along to reed beds and marsh. There are hides and viewing screens along the way and the feeders are always well stocked.
And where there are feeders, you will get plenty of birds. Such a good variety too, with the usual woodland mix and some raptors too.

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Long tailed Tit at a feeding table.

Marsh Tit. A Sculthorpe favourite of mine.

A Treecreeper at a feeder.

Breakfast is served.

During my vain attempt to locate Hawfinch a few weeks ago in Norfolk, I did stumble across a bird that I tend to only see in Norfolk. Although, having said that, I did see one in Greater Manchester last year, but that is quite a rarity.
The Marsh Tit. So similar to the Willow Tit, that it is pretty damn difficult to separate the two. It's a great little bird though, and on the cold morning that I saw them (at least 2) they were playing ball rather nicely. Usually so quick to dart in and out of the feeding area, that it's a real challenge to put the binoculars on them.
Thankfully, there was a nice amount of food out for them and they were frequent visitors to a fence post that allowed me to set up the camera and wait.

Marsh Tit, tucking in to breakfast.

 

Foraging in the undergrowth  were a couple of Nuthatches.



A Robin, so friendly and so close, I couldn't get it all in the image.

Marsh Tit - Norfolk

From the hide at Sculthorpe we had plenty of other birds besides Brambling. One of those was a lifer for me. The Marsh Tit. Very similar to a Willow Tit, to the point that I really can't tell them apart. Thanks to the expertise of my birding friends, this was definitely a Marsh Tit. With it's shiny head, it's a lovely little bird.

In amongst the many Long Tailed Tits