Band of Blue Tits Sunday, 17th November 2002, West Yorkshire

Rocks |  History |  Workshop |  Links |  Home Page

The double white wingbars of the chaffinch provide one of the few bright spots on another damp, grey, drizzly day. The rain-streaked stone walls and tree trunks are dark dull mottled green, the colour of an old weather-beaten waxed-cotton Barbour jacket. Fishermen at their Sunday angling contest are lined up along the towpath as a row of green umbrellas fading off into the misty gloom.

Once again the canal-side hawthorns provide a foraging ground for small flocks of blue tits. Following them along the lower stems there's a single treecreeper. It follows some of the branches up until they arc outwards and I get the impression it might be exploring these overhanging surfaces partly in order to take a break from the continuing rain which hangs as a large silver drop on every hawthorn berry.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

Next page | Previous page |  This day in 2000  |  This month |  Nature Diary |  Home Page