Bluetit Diary    Mar 2004 (7)

 

 

Wednesday 17th March, 2004

I was idly looking through today's images when I came across this one from Box1.

This bird doesn't look familiar!  It has a large white patch of feathers just beneath its collar and the feathers on its back look somewhat scruffy and tousled.

No sign of a trident shaped tail either!

Here is a view of Fantail taken early today.  She looks neat and tidy with smooth plumage.

The white patch on her back is at its largest from this viewpoint - but even so it is fairly small.  In fact it is not visible from the viewpoint of the image above.

Also, she has a wide white head band.

 

Another image of Fantail, a neat elegant bluetit.

This is Neptune.  He still has his very obvious trident shaped tail.  His body plumage is also pretty smooth for a male, without any significant sign of a white patch.

His head feathers, though, are typically male - not as smooth as Fantail's, slightly streaky.

As he departs, you can again see his doubly forked tail!