In the past week, we have had some lovely, clear days.

The temperature may have been quite a few degrees cooler, but this has to be my favourite weather condition for exploring nature reserves. The chill of the air on your face makes you feel just that little more alive and if you can find a spot out of the breeze, but in full sunshine then the subtle warmth that the weak sun can still give really lifts the spirits.

I was enjoying just such a moment on the lowland heath of Burlish Top. Standing with my shoulder resting up against a mature birch tree that was positioned proud from the rest of the heath, I caught a glimpse of a flock of a dozen or so birds emerging from an area of nearby scrub. They flew rapidly a metre above heathery ground directly towards me. The flock appeared to be composed of a tangle of small birds that twisted and turned in close proximity to each other. Just before they reached me they entered into a steep climb and dispersed amongst the branches of the silver birch tree. Immediately as the birds landed among the branches, they started twittering to each other. The birch was almost bare of leaves and this afforded me a magnificent view of these little birds.

The flock now flitting from branch to branch was long tailed tits. Close relatives to the blue tits, they lack the distinctive blue colouration, but they do have a distinctive black stripe on their otherwise white faces. Long tail tits, as their name suggests, have a prominent long tail and if it was not for this you would immediately see they are much smaller than their blue tit cousins.

They do have the same acrobatic nature however, which they were displaying to the full, swinging upside down and dancing from twig to twig. These acrobatics continued for what must have been about 15 minutes before the flock burst from the tree to simultaneously fly to another nearby tree. Their acrobatics and soothing twitterings had made fascinating watching.

The reason they stayed so long in this tree was the milder autumn days had proven to be a real boon for a type of insect known as true bugs. These creatures use their piercing mouthparts to tap into plant sap and they were doing just that on the birch. Unfortunately for them, the sharp eyes of the long tail tits had found them and the flock had made these tiny creatures their much-needed meal.