The Uninvited Guest

As I was sitting at the computer the other day I became aware of a regular tapping sound coming from the kitchen. It would go on for a few seconds then stop, only to resume again. Eventually I decided to go and check it out and this is what I found. A very young blue tit was perched on the window frame pecking away at the glass as if he wanted to come in. Every so often he would stop pecking and flutter his wings, then go back to pecking again.

This went on for the best part of an hour until eventually he gave up and flew away. But the day after he was back again and this time he had a young friend with him. The friend wasn't so impressed with this routine. He watched the peck-flutter-repeat business for a few minutes then left, but our original visitor carried on for some time until I frightened him away unloading the dishwasher. What was he doing? We could only conclude he was reacting to the reflection of himself or the trees behind him but it gave me a great chance to get up close to a bird that is normally quite skittish and observe just how beautiful and subtle were its markings and colours. Small miracles.