With a very gloomy forecast for the coming days I opted to head down the M5 to hopefully catch up with the first winter male Penduline Tit frequenting Plock Court, Longford, Gloucestershire.
Quickly booted up I took the short walk across the wetland to two small pools with plenty of bullrushes. There were about half a dozen birders, a single Stonechat but no Penduline Tit. I caught up with a couple of birders I knew before working my way down the perimter scrub line that I'd seen in reports it favoured.
Finally there was a flicker of movement at the bottom of the reeds and thankfully the Penduline Tit revealed itself and showed really well for the duration of my visit. Feeding well on both pools. What was strange is how a Penduline Tit, that normally breeds in France, could find its way to a spot within a mile of the only previous record in the county. The bird was ringed with the number revealing it was ringing in the Channel Islands on 28th October.
Despite a couple of reports on social media when the bird first arrived, everyone there was very well behaved and enjoying the masked bandit at a sensible distance.
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