Season on its head!

[Philthy]

Looked out the window this morning to see coal(?) tits sizing up two of the nest boxes. Fluttering round them, taking it in turns to go inside, perching close by etc.
They're about 3 MONTHS ahead of schedule on previous years!
We had our first frost of winter only 2 days ago! What is going on this year??

[Scoot]

We're they black and white and did they have a white spot on the back of their head, on their cap? A coal tit if the answer is yes.

Could also have been a great tit. Yellow front with a big black line right up the chest?

Have a look here see if you can spot which species of tit it was...

The RSPB: Birds by family: Tits

You often see little tits flying in and out of boxes, it could be any time of year. They'll be checking out potential nest sites. They won't be thinking of nesting yet. Just sizing up who has the best nest box lol.

[skeggijon]

Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, in fact all Tits are welcome in my garden any time of year.

[Gillykat]

Last week I had Collared Doves courting and chasing each other around and yesterday I had FOUR individual Blue Tits singing as I walked home from work at 8.30am.

Bit of a cold snap due this week so hopefully this will not all this Spring malarky on the head....we need our proper winter first!

[WPG]

I've got a pair of courting robins in my garden - the RSPB website says robins usually nest in March but will start in January if it's a mild winter. The advice is to make sure they're well fed

The RSPB: Robin: Breeding

[Lisasbolt]

WPG, you beat me to it, i was going to say throw some lovely seeds about for them, still not much out there for them to eat

[Scoot]

Yeah, hopefully this cold snap will knock the horny little buggers back a couple of months lol.

It would be a disaster for them if they nested now as any sort of cold spell would see the end of the nest.

[Philthy]

Hi Scoot. Couldn't tell for sure but yes in hindsight I'm pretty sure they were Coal tits - too small for Great tits and no bright colours that I could see either. So they were just laying claim then, that makes more sense!
Gillykat, I agree there is definitely more singing going on at the moment. I've stepped outside at 2am in recent weeks and heard birdsong.
The flowers don't seem to know what to make of it, with the reports of daffodils showing already.
Also, I've hardly seen any pheasants this year - my commute is along quite a rural route and is usually dotted with fatalities from birds on the move. Perhaps they're finding they don't need to emerge from the woodlands this winter to find food.

[Scoot]

Hi Scoot. Couldn't tell for sure but yes in hindsight I'm pretty sure they were Coal tits - too small for Great tits and no bright colours that I could see either. So they were just laying claim then, that makes more sense!
Gillykat, I agree there is definitely more singing going on at the moment. I've stepped outside at 2am in recent weeks and heard birdsong.
The flowers don't seem to know what to make of it, with the reports of daffodils showing already.
Also, I've hardly seen any pheasants this year - my commute is along quite a rural route and is usually dotted with fatalities from birds on the move. Perhaps they're finding they don't need to emerge from the woodlands this winter to find food.

The birds you are hearing at night will be Robins. They are one of the only birds that defend a territory for the whole year and it is very common to hear them singing at this time of the year. Day and Night.