Wednesday 2 July 2014

Great Tit with a tick

I've been watching a Great Tit all morning on the bird feeders. It looked like it was in terrible condition, so I wondered whether it was an adult that had been feeding babies (as they can look very tatty for a while when they are frantically trying to find them enough food) or perhaps it was a baby that was just getting it's adult feathers. There are usually a pair of them around, but I've only seen this one this morning. It's been feeding well and seemed to be OK other than it looked like it had (quite literally) been dragged backwards through a hedge.

I took a few photos of it and it was only when I zoomed in that I realised there was something wrong with it's face. It appears to have a tick on the side of it. It also looks like the feathers have been rubbed off it's head and face. I assume it has been trying to rub the tick off.

Poor thing - I'll keep an eye on it!

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