Welcome Feathered Visitor

during the last week I've been watching a little blue tit at our nest-box, clinging on to the opening, poking his head in and out, pecking at the surrounding wood and looking from left to right for a mate.

The little chap is seeking a mate and this is his way of doing it. It is as if he's saying: "This could be our new home! It's vacant; let's build a nest here. Come and join me!"

There was a great tit harassing him the last time; tits are quite territorial, so this must be that great tit's patch (though the opening in our nest-box is too small for great tits to fit in).