Tails and tits

And when I say tails and tits... I mean wagging tails, and great tits! Blame on this week's SMAP theme: small bird!

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Of course, it's birds we're talking about here! And we even have wagging tails in different patterns!

^{Grey wagtail - Motacilla cinerea}

If you remember the post about the cute dipper, this wagtail decided to show up in the same stream. And although the dipper was clearly stealing the show, I couldn't help but snapping a few shots of the grey wagtail.

Wagtails are a really easy species to recognize: medium sized passerines, with a big, wagging tail! The white wagtails are far more common in the country, but the grey wagtail is also kind of common, especially near water; and there's no way to mistake them, since the colour pattern is completely different.

Similar body shape, but grey upperparts contrasting with the bright yellow on chest, vent and tail. I did photographed a white wagtail a few moments after:

^{White wagtail - Motacilla alba}

See? Notice the similar body, the long characteristic tail, but in this case, the grey on top is joined by the white underparts. They fly in a very characteristic way too, with an undulating flight, frequently vocalising while in flight; but of course, that's way easier to learn after you actually seem them outside doing it.

Tits, did I also mentioned tits? Well, yes i did; and great ones!

^{Great tit - Parus major, male}

The following day after seeing tails wagging, tits were appearing among the pine tree, chirping joyfully in the cold misty morning. Males are easy to recognize, since that big black stripe going from the neck extends and widens at the abdomen, unlike in females, where it narrows and stops. Fortunately for me, this one was a poser, so it left no doubt.

After a few moments jumping from twig to twig, he flew to a nearby tree, where he started singing like crazy. Unfortunately, he was hiding among the branches, so it was hard to get another decent photo; this was the best I could come up with:

I did saw more tits; even more coloured ones, although... not great ones. But, I'll leave them to a future post!

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