Aunting

The rain stopped and the sun came out - time to leave the emails and go outside for my UKBMS & BeeWalk surveys on the Roseburn Path. Two mini-learnings from this are 1) I need to work on my white butterfly speed identification and 2) red-tailed bumblebee males are my favourites...I think it's their yellow furry faces. Anywaaaaaay. There was a kerfuffle in the trees at the Ravelston Dykes ramp and out popped three long-tailed tits. Possibly more, but they are super-quick. Aegithalos caudatus. A ridiculously long name for such a small bird, but maybe it's to match their oversized tails. They're a sociable bunch, staying together in family bunches through winter, and undertaking cooperative breeding - helping related flock members to raise their young - in Spring. Dominic Couzens puts this as "promoting their genetic material by proxy rather than twiddling their thumbs"...being child-free myself, I would say I related, but I'm not sure WhatsApping pictures of Lego and carrots-that-look-like-their-grandfather to my sister's children counts...