Penduline Tit!!

On Sunday (28/12) the best news greeted me of a Penduline Tit showing well at Priory CP in Bedford. This is a species that has brought me pretty close to despair on a couple of occasions, pointlessly wasting several hours of my life staring into a reedbed! Surely now was the time to put that behind me!

So on the morning of Monday (29/12) I made the 45 or so minute journey across from Brackley on a stunning, crisp, sunny day. I managed to find the area with little difficulty parking behind a long line of cars along a dead-end lane. I trotted off and the news appeared to be good with several "still there's" on the way down. Eventually I joined a small huddle of expectant birders. The bird was out of view, however within a few minutes it again appeared and after a quick peak down someone's scope I now had fully unblocked Penduline Tit...BOOM!

Now it was time to enjoy the bird. It showed better than I'd hoped to be honest. Flitting around a bit, but also spending prolonged periods of time feeding on reed-mace heads, occasionally really quite close. It also called quite a bit too which was great to hear.

 

After having my fill of the Penduline, I headed over to Wellingborough to see a mate so popped into Summer Leys on the way. Not much about other than a Little Egret, a couple of squealing Water Rail and several Goldeneye.