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Blue tit

The goldcrests arrived in my garden yesterday, a sign the weather's turned. They tend to tag along with the coal tits but at the moment aren't moving in any further than the sycamores on the railway embankment so at the moment I'm not sure if they're a pair or not. All the blue tits have decided to team up with one of the house sparrow families this week, following the example of the one that hitched a ride within weeks of leaving the nest this Summer. The great tits seem to be doing their own thing and don't seem settled into a routine.

It's getting harder to separate the two sparrow families as they've mixed and mingled a lot this year. Team Silver's alpha male has developed a splendid bib, not yet the rival of the patriarch that ruled the roost a few years back but getting there.

Mahonia "Charity"

The Mahonia at the bottom of the garden's in full bloom and attracting the attentions of the blue tits and great tits. I'm hoping it won't be long before the first of the Winter blackcaps and chiffchaffs come in, the flowers — or the insects on them — are a magnet for them. (While I'm wishing I'll have a firecrest, a yellow-browed warbler and a Pallas' warbler while I'm at it.)

Today's garden tally is one of the better ones lately.

• Black-headed Gull 5 overhead
• Blackbird 1
• Blue Tit 3
• Carrion Crow 2
• Coal Tit 2
• Collared Dove 2
• Dunnock 1
• Goldcrest 2
• Great Tit 2
• House Sparrow 13
• Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 overhead
• Long-tailed Tit 8
• Magpie 1
• Robin 1
• Rook 1
• Starling 4