# General > Birdwatching >  Coal Tit (i think)

## souperman

Nestbuilding under way, apologies for the tv photo of the nest, trial and error, hopefully get some eggs/young as the weeks go on.

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## karia

Lovely pics souperman! Coal tits are wonderful to watch,so small & so fast!
I'm lucky enough to have some in my garden and at this time of year they are fascinating.
If I put bird seed on the window ledge, the same wee coal tit will visit on an 18 second loop, stop, look around ,then select only the sunflower seeds, one at a time.
I always think that the manic energy they expend can never be matched by their food intake.
mind you, they can nip in and out under other birds beaks...and seem to know no fear!
You're in a lucky position being able to watch the nest.
Look forward to seeing more of your pictures!

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## Rheghead

Nice pics but it is a Great tit.

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## karia

> Nice pics but it is a Great tit.


Without scale it's hard to tell, however it does have a yellow looking  belly which I failed to notice...
....  Rheghead , think you are correct !

I'm sure it will prove interesting in itself. (Shouldn't say so, but much prefer the abject crazinessof the tiny coaltit!)

Anyone got pied wagtails?

(or is it just the way you walk!):D

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## souperman

> Nice pics but it is a Great tit.


Thanks Rheghead, I`m no twitcher but its good to know what I`m spying on !

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## Rheghead

The most striking way to tell the difference is that on the Great tit there is a black stripe down the yellow breast which is shown on the first pic.

And there is a vertical white stripe on the nape of a coal tit which is absent on the B&W pic.

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## scorrie

> The most striking way to tell the difference is that on the Great tit there is a black stripe down the yellow breast which is shown on the first pic.
> 
> And there is a vertical white stripe on the nape of a coal tit which is absent on the B&W pic.


Aye, the Coal Tit is a different creature. Latin name Arthuris Scargillus

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## souperman

After a morning of adding moss to the nest by the great tit a wee blue tit nipped in and for several minutes made as though it belonged to him/her, outside the great tit (owner) was going crazy to get rid of the squatter and eventually the blue tit left, but since then the great tit has not been seen, not sure if this is normal but its like watching a soap opera, hope the original comes back after all its work.

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## Rheghead

The blue tit wants to be careful because great tits are known to kill them from time to time.

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## souperman

> The blue tit wants to be careful because great tits are known to kill them from time to time.


Here is the squatter making itself at home, it put in a lot of work to the nest today but if Rheghead is correct, its days may be numbered.....

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## souperman

What a day, nature is truly violent, the great tits returned as a pair this morning and, after two hours of defending by the blue tit, a great tit jumped into the box, had the blue on its back and gettting a real hard time, the blue eventually got free and flew off closely followed by the pair of greats, the nest now lies empty, looks finished but empty, hopefully something will come back, this birdwatching is exhausting !

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## souperman

Thats five days past since the forced eviction and not a sign of either the Great or Blue Tits, a perfectly good nest ready and waiting but no takers, hope the original owner comes back soon, or anything for that matter.

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## Jeemag_USA

Cool story, and pics, thanks Souperman. Where did you get the box cam, i woudl love to try that, I get all sorts of things in my yard from humming birds to woodpeckers. I wouldn't mind making a bird feeder house with an eaved roof and put the camera under and hang a hummingbird feeder. Is this a camera you can make film footage with, or is it like a webcam where you can take stills by clicking?

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## stratman

> Aye, the Coal Tit is a different creature. Latin name Arthuris Scargillus


Ha ha ha!!!  very good.

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## souperman

> Cool story, and pics, thanks Souperman. Where did you get the box cam, i woudl love to try that, I get all sorts of things in my yard from humming birds to woodpeckers. I wouldn't mind making a bird feeder house with an eaved roof and put the camera under and hang a hummingbird feeder. Is this a camera you can make film footage with, or is it like a webcam where you can take stills by clicking?


Hi Jeemag, its just a bog standard security camera from B&Q, around the £30 mark, I just opened it up, broke the thread seal on the lens and set the focus nice and close for inside the box, its fed back to tv on the supplied scart plug / cable, excellent entertainment, highly recommend it, would be good in the nursery / primary schools for the bairns to watch I think.

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## Jeemag_USA

> Hi Jeemag, its just a bog standard security camera from B&Q, around the £30 mark, I just opened it up, broke the thread seal on the lens and set the focus nice and close for inside the box, its fed back to tv on the supplied scart plug / cable, excellent entertainment, highly recommend it, would be good in the nursery / primary schools for the bairns to watch I think.


Thanks, I am going to try something like that for Humming Birds and other stuff. Are they only in black and white at that price, is it more expensive for a color camera?

(edit) just found a wireless camera on sale for $80 (boutn 40 quid) works up to 300ft away. Might look into something like that because I have a very long garden and don't fancy burying cables or leaving them on the lawn.

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## scorrie

> Ha ha ha!!!  very good.


Thanks for your comment.

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## WeeBurd

We have a window-mounted feeding tray in the kitchen, so the girls can see the birdies, and we've had a pair of great tits visiting us for the past few days. Gorgeous wee things!  :Grin:

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## karia

Thanks for that, fair cheered me up.. ain't they fast!
Karia x

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