Crested Tits – A new site with loads of potential

Crested tits (Lophophanes cristatus) are fabulous little birds who are only found in the UK in pockets of pinewood in the Scottish Highlands. They are a bird I used to love to find and photograph on winter holidays in the Highlands and it was a thrill when I found my very own birds in a local woodland.

The first time I set eyes on a crestie was back in October 2016. The previous year, during a wildlife week at the Aigas Field Centre we’d gone out to look for them but had failed – I wasn’t too disappointed as I’d never heard of crested tits! It was at Aigas the following year that I had my first sighting – such handsome birds with their beautiful plumage, red eyes and impressive crests. This is my first crestie image.

Over the next few years I’d seek them out at RSPB Loch Garten and also saw them at a few private hides.

Cresties are fab birds – their trill is very distinctive and they can be both feisty and grumpy, but always beautiful. They aren’t a flock bird like many other tits, but there tend to be coal tits (too many coal tits!) in the same locations, as well as blue, great and long-tailed. Generally there are only a couple in a territory, although there can be more. Crested tits prefer to feed on insects found in the treetops and therefore are far more likely to be spotted during the winter months when their preferred diet is unavailable. At this time they’ll come down to feeders. They are a schedule 1 bird and are protected during the breeding season.

Initially when I moved to the highlands I used a friend’s hide on the Black Isle. A great location with some brilliant crestie action. I took one of my favourite images here:

But in January 2021 I put a feeder in a local wood that I thought had potential. On returning a couple of days later I was delighted to find cresties visiting.

It was that easy! I’ve used this site for the past two years and will continue to do so as it has some brilliant wildlife visiting including the wonderful little bank voles, long-tailed tits, red squirrels, as well as a pair of cresties. You can read more about and and the wildlife on this blog from last winter. However, the conifers lost many of their pine needles during the dry spell in June and aren’t looking quite so good and although I have ways around this I decided to go in search of a second site. I’m blessed with many suitable local woods and soon found exactly what I was looking for. This spot is primarily Scots pine and larch. It’s more open although slightly less accessible as there’s no path and the forest floor is a mixture of sphagnum moss, heather and ditches. However, it’s worth it!

A few of the more mature larch trees have old, fragile, lower branches covered in lichen. These are brilliant perches for the birds. I just have to be careful and not leave the feeder hanging from them as I worry any heavier animal will cause the branches to break!

My favourite image here is this one:

It’s also possible to photograph the birds in the heather:

In late October the pine needles on the larch trees turned the most stunning golden colour. I was a little late picking up on the potential here, but eventually realised that photographing the birds amongst the pine needles would work really well. Unfortunately within a couple of weeks (and lots of bad weather) the needles started to fall off. Such a shame – you can see how well the colours of the cresties work with the yellow.

I’m really excited about this site going forward. There is so much potential. I’m not sure how many cresties there are, but certainly at least three. Interestingly, they really don’t like each other. If one is on the feeder another will chase it away. They spend as much time chasing one another as they do coming in for food. I’ve not seen this behaviour to such an extreme elsewhere. One of them follows me through the wood, probably because I keep moving the feeder and it’s trying to keep up with me!

One good thing about this site as opposed to my other is that there are far fewer coal tits. Great little birds, but they can be a pest. The cresties here are dominant to them though and chase them off the feeders. There are also wrens and goldcrest showing. No photos of the wren but here are a couple of goldcrests – they also looked great in the golden larch.

Squirrels are active too, but haven’t yet come near when I’m there, hopefully that will change. Plenty of other wildlife as well, as this video demonstrates. Incredible number of deer, both red and roe; plus red fox, pine marten, badger and jays. Other than the nut feeder I am not baiting this site, so all these animals are just passing through.

I’m taking bookings (click link for info) for both my crested tit sites from now through to early March when they tend to become much less visible. February is very busy, but other months are still ok. Please note, this new site may be tricky to access if there’s snow on the ground (partly due to a steep drive up and also due to the lack of path and uneven walking), it’s also not suitable for the same reasons if you have any mobility issues.

If you’d like to come and photograph any of my local wildlife and are looking for a place to stay, I have a rental cabin “The Drey Inchberry” which sleeps 1-2 people and can be set up as a super king or two singles. Cabin guests receive 10% off non-residential package workshops. I also have some availability for my winter wildlife workshop residential workshop although there’s now only one slot left in February.

I have 2024 calendars (A4 red squirrels and scottish wildlife) calendars and greeting cards available in my Etsy store.

I offer vouchers for both workshops and cabin stays, please contact me for details – they make great Christmas presents!!