It was another dreary, rainy day – this, according to all my apps, being the weather we can expect across the whole of the country through the whole of this week – but the afternoon was forecast to be even worse than the morning, so R and I took ourselves off to Hillers for morning coffee, chocolate tiffin, and in my case, birds. As the appalling light meant that I could barely even see the birds that landed on the log perches at the back of the bird table, it’s no surprise that the camera had a bit of a job focusing on them, and I probably missed more shots than I got. But there were a couple of cooperative Great Tits which not only landed but posed quite nicely, and I’ve included them both here to show the difference between male and female plumage.
The main image shows a female, who has quite pale, greyish-yellow underparts, with a narrow black stripe running down her breast and under her belly. The second photo – taken just a minute later, in the same position and light, and processed identically – shows a male. As you can see, his colouring is much clearer: his yellow underparts and the green and blue plumage on his back and wings are all stronger and brighter than the female’s, and his cap, bib, and belly stripe are a heavier, bluer black. His belly stripe is also broader than the female’s, and widens between his legs, while hers rather fades away. Aside from these differences they look almost identical, being the same size, and wearing identically stern expressions. I always feel quite disapproved of when a Great Tit looks me over.
This afternoon at the GP’s surgery, R got into conversation in the waiting area with a farmer, who told him that if the rain doesn’t stop soon, this season’s seeds are going to be rotting in the fields. A timely reminder that for some people, bad weather isn’t just annoying or depressing, but potentially catastrophic.
R: L2, C4, D6.
