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Tuesday 11 December 2012

Tit Willow, Tit Willow, Tit Willow

Willow Tit

This little bird gave me a mystery when he appeared in the garden. Was it a finch, or a tit. We have a book of birds at home, in German, but none the less, when you have Wikipedia on the Internet you can always switch to the english page from the German.

According to our bird book it would either be a Willow Tit, or perhaps a Marsh Tit. They look very much the same and apparently the only good way to tell the difference is to listen to their song. Good idea, but unfortunately our birds seem to have lost their song in the Winter months.  They are more into munching and stuffing themselves full of the food I put out for them.

I decided this is probably a Willow Tit, although willow trees are not very common in our area. We also do not have marsh land.

In my teenager years I often paid a visit to the opera, usually Sadlers Wells theater at The Angel in London. They now moved from The Angel. Sadlers Wells sung the operas only in the english language, being an english institution. One year they had a sort of Gilbert and Sullivan season, and I remember seeing Iolanthe and the Mikado. What does this bird have in common with the opera you may ask.

The opera Mikado is a parody on the Japanese court. Gilbert and Sullivan operas were mostly based on satire in connection with the Victorian era in England. I remembered a song in the Mikado "Tit Willow" so now I know what a Tit Willow is. 




5 comments:

  1. Very cute Tit Willow. Interesting how you related its name to that opera...

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  2. The bird is very cute what ever he is. We have several species that I'm not sure the correct name because they look so much alike.

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  3. It's not a variety I'm familiar with. The Bullfinch also has a black cap like that, but I've not actually seen one myself. Great photo of him, whichever variety he is.

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  4. My dad sang that song often - he too comes from your part of the world - A cockney as well - not too far from the Angel Islington. He was one for sing along songs all Londeners love to sing - from his era anyway. Enjoyed your post and clip - great photo as well- excellent capture!

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  5. nice blog underlined with the video

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