Not at All Holy Moley

 Friday February 5

We have been invaded by one - very busy - or more than one, mole. It's made several hills in the side border and had started a side branch into the lawn. Pam was becoming increasingly agitated. I went online and bought a couple of sonic deterrent devices. I don't know whether - or not - they work, but it's worth a try. 

We had a major problem soon after we moved to Norfolk. Discussing this at work, a locally raised colleague recommended, very seriously, that I talk to them nicely and asked them to go away. I was to tell them how lovely they are, how much I like them and that a neighbour loved them even more.

Making sure that no-one was around, I did exactly that, sending them next door to Norman.They went. Probably a total co-incidence, I don't have many hippy dippy tendencies.

Another hour skulking in the sun lounge yesterday, camera mounted on the new tripod, added a female Brambling and a male Blackcap to the month list. I managed a photo of the former when it perched in the hedge, the Blackcap still eludes me

The Stock Dove got away too, my battery died.

I did manage one shot of a very white-headed Long-tailed Tit. The Swedish race looks like this, named as Northern Long-tailed Tit. We once travelled to Suffolk's Dunwich Heath to see a small party of them. I'm not 100%  convinced by this one. The back of the neck looks a little 'dirty'. Opinions welcomed.

 

 BBRC

Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus

Long-tailed Tit comprises perhaps as many as twenty subspecies. Of relevance here are three of these – rosaceus (�British Long-tailed Tit�), endemic to Britain and Ireland, europaeus (�Central European Long-tailed Tit�), breeding in western, central and south-east Europe, and nominate caudatus (�Northern Long-tailed Tit�), breeding across Scandinavia, European Russia and northern Asia. The subspecies caudatus and europaeus intergrade in a zone stretching from Denmark through eastern Germany and southern Poland to northern Romania and southern Ukraine, resulting in birds of intermediate appearance. This intergrade zone may be shifting southwards.

Nominate caudatus is a striking subspecies but it needs to be separated with care from caudatus x europaeus intergrades/�white-headed europaeus�. The key feature is a wholly white head but the pattern of the tertials, scapulars and underparts should also be noted, although these are somewhat variable. Quite what constitutes a fully �pure� caudatus is the subject of debate, however, some authors (e.g. Jansen & Nap 2008) advocating that the merest hint of grey on the head excludes caudatus whilst most (e.g. Kehoe 2006) consider some faint grey streaking in the head to be compatible with caudatus. More clearly-defined head streaking forming faint �ghosted� coronal bands and grey streaking in the ear coverts or across the breast would, however, definitely exclude caudatus.