Penduline Tit, Stodmarsh

It is a sign of how things have changed that even before the wheels of the plane had graced the tarmac at Heathrow last weekend, I was wondering what might have turned up in the few weeks I was away! While longing for a situation to transpire that would result in the plane turning around and heading back to India and wishing I could summon the strength to turn off the Ashton Kutcher movie that was playing, it was comforting to know that while I was leaving an exotic landscape for a much more familiar one, there was still plenty to look forward to at home. Thus, with my head still full of bulbuls and minivets and sunbirds and bee-eaters, I found myself heading down the A2 on Wednesday without a rickshaw in sight, to check out the showy Penduline Tit that has been present at Stodmarsh for a few weeks.

I've wanted to see this tricky species for a while and after a short wait it eventually emerged to give fantastic views in its favoured patch of bulrush, wobbling back and forth contentedly in the pleasant March sunshine. Although defined as one in name and indeed, tit-sized, penduline tits inhabit a realm of taxonomic uncertainty and are generally treated as a sub-family of the 'true' tits. Their name comes from the incredible bulbous, hanging nests they construct - currently confined in the most part to south and eastern mainland Europe, I wonder how long it is until we see these amazing structures appearing in UK reedbeds?

More on my Indian odyssey to come but for now enjoy an absolutely knock-out bird a bit closer to home...

Swing woah...Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus), Stodmarsh NNR, Kent 6/3/13