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The
Story of One Very Plucky Little Blue Tit |
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Follow its
battle against
adversities through my blogs |
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story starts in the spring of 2014 when I saw
this blue tit in the garden coming for meal
worms to feed its offspring. It was obvious by
its somewhat jerky actions and excessive use of
its wings for balance that there was something
wrong and on close inspection I could see that
it hah one foot missing. |
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1st Oct 2014 |
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be quite hard but this Blue Tit is a real survivor, with one foot
missing and a fungal infection, similar to that seen
on chaffinches, has been in the garden from the
beginning of the year and has raised a brood of
young in the Spring and is still going strong as
Autumn approaches. As it is still looking strong and
keeps coming to be fed, on live mealworms, I will
keep a close eye on it as winter creeps nearer and
intervene if necessary. The local wildlife rescue,
Cuan Wildlife, said that if it did start
to deteriorate in the winter, and if I could catch it,
that it was possible that they could do something to
elevate the fungal condition. Keep
watching! |
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(Note
- My original assumption was wrong as it turned out
later to be a scaly mite infestation) |
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| 28th
Dec 2014 |
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Whilst attempting to catch my blue tit with one
foot missing, to take to
Cuan Wildlife Rescue
, I saw this one that was quite expertly
using only one foot while feeding. It was making use
of its wings to help with balance, just like the
other one I was trying to catch, this is what
first attracted my attention to it. It looked to
be in very good condition apart from its right
leg, which it was making no attempt to use. You
can just make out the right foot in the slowed down video
and the still frames at the end. I caught the
other one, with the missing foot, and its now at Cuan
Wildlife Rescue having treatment for a scaly
mite condition. At least its now in the warm
during this cold spell and I will be keeping a
eye on this second one for while to see how in
progresses. |
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VIDEO
Blue Tit using one leg only
28th Dec
2014 |
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5th Jan |
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Went
to Cuan Wildlife Rescue centre at Much Wenlock today to see
Fran and to see how my blue tit with one leg
missing was progressing with its treatment for
scaly mite. It's in good hands and is looking
much better than when I took it in just over a
week ago. Hopefully its feather condition will
improve enough before too long to enable it to
be released back into its home patch and it will
be fit enough to cope with the cold weather. |
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Photographs by kind permission of Cuan Wildlife Rescue |
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11th Jan |
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My special blue tit is now the latest cover photo on the
Cuan Wildlife
Rescue Facebook Timeline. |
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Good news in a message from Fran |
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'Hi
Maurice Baker he has now had his last treatment and his
leg is looking so much better. So as soon as the weather
improves he can come home Fran' |
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16th Jan |
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I got a call from Fran at Cuan Wildlife Rescue
this morning saying that my blue tit with the
missing foot had finished its treatment for
scaly mite and that as there was a respite from
the bad weather today would be ideal for its
release back in my garden. The time had come for
its release and at midday the weather was
perfect, not too cold, sunny and no wind. On
opening its box it eventually popped out and
flew off across the road into a nearby garden,
but within minutes it was back in the garden
with the other tits and birds feeding on its
favourite, mealworms. It still needs to replace
some of the feathers on its neck but apart from
that it is very active and is in much better
health than when I took it down to Much Wenlock. |
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VIDEO
Blue
Tit Release
16th January 2015 |
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24th Jan |
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Blue
Tit Release seven days on |
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The return of this blue tit is thanks to Fran
and Claire and all at Cuan Wildlife Rescue for
the sterling work they do and in particular
treating this little fellow for a very bad case
of scaly mite. It's looking in much better
health and now has a really good chance of of
surviving the rest of the winter. It's now one
week since its return and release back into the
garden. Despite being in the middle of winter
and the condition of its plumage I am amazed at
how well its coping and getting back to normal.
My other blue tit that was only using one leg a
few weeks ago also seems to be on the mend as it
is now tentatively using the other leg again as
can be seen in the video. |
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VIDEO
Blue Tit Release Seven Days On
24th January 2015 |
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Possibly
because of its different appearance it tends not
to be accepted by a lot of the other blue tits,
but as you can see its quite capable of looking
out for itself. Fortunately its not all on its
own as there is one that seems to be quite
friendly with it, I would like to think that it
may have been its partner from last spring. |
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Welcome to my
new blog.
I live in Shrewsbury and although most of my blog
will be a diary and observations about garden birds
I will inevitably be drawn out to the beautiful
surrounding countryside of Shropshire, from the
meres in the north to the rolling South Shropshire
Hills.
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Support local wildlife by
supporting |
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Cuan Wildlife Rescue |
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Much
Wenlock |
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ARCHIVED BLOGS -
Detailed List |
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October 2014 Blog - 12 |
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November 2014 Blog -
6 |
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Feature from my Website |
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Follow the progress of this plucky little
chap with only one foot, as it shows real
determination to survive. |
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Diary of a special Blue Tit |
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Tips on Photographing
Garden Birds |
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I am just a keen
amateur bird watcher and photograph but I will
occasionally try and
pass on a few tips that I have picked up that may be
helpful when you are photographing birds in your garden. |
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GARDEN BIRD PHOTO GALLEY |
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A selection of some of the 39 species of birds that visit my garden. I have gradually changed my urban back garden into a wildlife friendly area by adding water features, fruit and berry bushes & trees and letting the ivy cover the fence, trees and back of the house. I have introduced a rough grass area and encouraged wild flowers such as trefoil, knapweed, nettles & teasel to grow. By year round feeding & adding nest boxes I have recorded 39 different species of birds including predators, which I suppose is a sign of a well stocked wildlife garden.
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The 39 garden bird species captured on film or
photographed: Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Brambling,
Bullfinch, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch. Chiffchaff, Coal
Tit, Collard Dove, Common Redpoll, Dunnock, Fieldfare,
Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great
Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Jay,
Lesser Redpoll, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle
Thrush, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin,
Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Willow
Warbler, Wood Pigeon, Wren. and a Garden Warbler no
photo |
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SHROPSHIRE BIRD PHOTO GALLERY |
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My list of
Shropshire bird photos: |
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Arctic Tern,
Bar-headed
Goose,
Barnacle
Goose,
Bee-eater, Bewick's Swan, Blackbird, Blackcap,
Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit,
Black
Redstart, Black Swan, Blue Tit, Brambling, Brent
Goose, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose,
Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit,
Collard Dove, Common Sandpiper, Common Redpoll,
Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin,
Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Fieldfare, Gadwall,
Garganey, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Goldfinch,
Goldcrest, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great
Spotted Woodpecker,
Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Green
Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank,
Green-winged Teal, Grey Heron, Grey
Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring
Gull, Hobby, House Martin, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing,
Lesser Black-backed Gull,
Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little
Egret, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover,
Long-tailed Tit, Magpie,
Mallard,
Marsh Tit, Meadow Pipit, Mistle
Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Osprey,
Oystercatcher, Peregrin Falcon, Pheasant,
Pied Flycatcher, Pied
Wagtail, Pink-footed Goose, Pintail, Pochard,
Raven, Redwing, Redstart,
Redshank, Red-legged Partridge,
Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed
Plover, Robin, Rook, Ruff,
Sanderling, Sand Martin, Scaup,
Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler Duck, Siskin,
Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk,
Spoonbill,
Spotted Flycatcher, Spotted Redshank, Starling,
Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Teal,
Tundra Bean Goose,
Whooper Swan Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted
Duck, Turnstone, Waxwing, Wheatear,
Whitethroat, White-fronted Goose, Wigeon, Willow
Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellow Wagtail,
Yellow Legged Gull, Yellowhammer, |
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If
you wish to
Email
Me please use this Link |
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More photos & videos on my: |
| Website
Shropshire Bird & Wildlife |
| Website
Shropshire Bird Videos |
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Twitter -
@MauriceBaker8 |
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