long tailed tit, taken by Kevin Loader

Romance is in the air

Caroline Fitton

As the days start to grow lighter and longer, and the slow but welcome progression of seasonal change creeps upon us, it’s not only a young man’s fancy that turns to Spring - that of birds do too. At The Wildlife Trust’s Roswell Pits, near Ely, Dogsthorpe Star Pits in Peterborough and Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits in Cambridge the abundant concentration of birds and birdsong will start to fill the air. Little Egrets will develop long plumes on their heads and necks as the breeding season approaches. During the next few months wading birds such as the male Snipe (Galinago galinago in Latin by the way) will start to perform a distinctive display called lekking where they bob and flap while making a clicking, chirruping call to woo a female.

Visible right now in fading February light, delicate, industrious Long-tailed Tits will be fluttering about the trees, especially at Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits or in a garden near you, busy creating their cosy moss and feather lined nests ready for the young to snuggle down in. All members of the gregarious winter flock will pair and nest, these intricate nests are compact, domed constructions made from moss and feathers woven together with spiders’ webs and hair, the outside of which is then meticulously lined with up to 2,000 feathers then camouflaged with lichen. Aaah, it makes mid-month and the approach of Valentine’s Day seem especially tweet.

For your chance to see these and plenty of other species visit your local reserve – check out wildlifebcn.org to find your nearest.

Caroline Fitton

The Wildlife Trust