Long Tailed Tit

Long Tailed Tits feature here from time to time.  I’m rather fond of these little birds.  We see them through the year in small family flocks in the autumn and winter in the garden and local woods and then as pairs in the breeding season and summer though they can be very busy and may have there family members in tow even then.  

A few weeks ago I spotted a pair in the gorse and they were spending an uncommonly long time in one place.  After a bit, I located the bush of interest and peering in, I saw a nest within the thorny haven.  I’ve been watching on and off (binoculars at a distance) and I was pretty sure they had nested but the site so protected it was difficult to tell.  Yesterday I could see the pair far more active and it was clear that they were now feeding young because there was a great deal of traffic around the bush.  I wasn’t convinced this nest was photographable because, though only 3’ from the ground its in a quite dense position and surrounded by thorny old gorse branches.  Added to that the hole and nest is only visible from a distance from one very specific position.  Today, after a good about of time watching the birds and understanding their habit, I slowly moved some gear into position at the cost of quite a bit of personal pain.  I had to work quickly when the birds were away from the nest, and I couldn’t get everything properly setup without risking disturbing the parents on their returns to the nest.  By being cautious, I managed to avoid the parents and the birds didn’t miss a beat and continued visiting the nest so I felt happy in photographing them for a couple of hours.  Me at a distance with a remote control.  Camera poking through the bush and covered in camouflage to break it up a bit.  The whole thing was rather challenging as I couldn’t really see the framing well and was completely unsighted on the birds, just guesstimating their flights into and from the nest.  In the end, I got one frame that was in focus and well lit.   

I’m not sure if I’ll repeat this as it was just as painful to extract the kit and it’s a really difficult spot to work in while making sure there is no impact on the birds.  

Gear: Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm f4 ‘S’ Lens.  Shot at 32.5mm at f/10 1/200s shutter ISO 200 with single fill-in flash off camera at 1/32 power manual setting.  Shutter activated by remote control from about 10m looking through binoculars and estimating bird position as it was hidden in the bush and observed by camouflage of the camera & flash.  Oh boy.