Willow Tits at Kelham Bridge. Leicestershire

How far do you go to find a Willow Tit? In our case it was 115 miles!

Leaving home shortly before 6am this morning, it was a straight forward journey along the M25 and then M1. Shortly after leaving the M1 and after turning left instead of right we pulled up outside the reserve entrance just before 8am.

 The reserve has two hides, both of which were at one time cargo containers. After opening the hatch we looked out onto a small lake. The lake was very quiet with only a pair of Mute Swans Two Moorhens and a Coot. A single Common Snipe appeared at the far end shortly afterwards. There is also a man made bank  with holes cut into it, hopefully to encourage returning Sand Martins to nest here.
In the right hand corner there were three feeders hanging from a tree. Great, Blue, and Long-tailed Tits all dropped in to feed, along with Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, and Robin.
It wasn't long before the first Willow Tit flew in. Shortly afterwards a second bird joined it to feed from the peanut basket.
They visited the feeders frequently and would feed on either the seed, peanuts or fat balls. Flying off into a nearby tree to continue eating.
Eventually the Willow Tits were heard giving their "erz-erz-erz"call from within the trees.
Several Common Buzzards were seen circling overhead during the visit.

Willow Tit