WREN A tiny bird but a great character, bold and courageous, with a small stump tail usually carried erect, and having an astonishingly loud song for so small a singer. The nest is usually built in rocks, walls, trees, or tree roots. It has been known to nest inside a scarecrow. Insects are its chief food, and even in winter, for it is non-migratory, this very active tiny bird appears to be able to find insect food in the form of grubs and larvae.

Wren
Another Tunnicliffe tea card. One of the things I like about these is the care taken in painting an appropriate background. He obviously knew the birds well and always puts them in places where they are likely to be seen.
#Tunnicliffe

GREAT TIT This handsome bird is the largest of the tit family, and is with us the whole year through. It feeds chiefly on insects and larvae but, in winter when insects are scarce, will feed on acorns and nuts. It is a regular visitor to the bird-table. Any hole serves as a nesting site, even letter boxes have been used, but it is usually in a tree, wall or stump. The nest is made of grass and moss with a lining of hair and feathers.

From the Portraits of Birds tea card album (1961) by C F Tunnicliffe
Great Tit
A “handsome bird”
#Tunnicliffe

WHEATEAR The wheatear is among the earliest of the summer visitors to arrive in Britain, but may be found only in those areas which suit it-downland, rocky hillsides, cliff headlands, and coastal sand dunes. It is a restless bird, constantly on the move, displaying a conspicuous white rump when in flight. Insects and small worms are its chief food. It nests in holes in rocks and walls or, if it lives in the sand dunes, a rabbit-burrow is used. Wheatears leave Britain in August and September, but a few have been known to linger until November.

From the Portraits of Birds album by C F Tunnicliffe.
Wheatear.
A very dapper little bird.
#Tunnicliffe

PIED FLYCATCHER A summer visitor from Africa, not common except in certain areas in the Lake District and in Wales. It favours wooded valleys with a stream running through. The nest is in holes in trees in which is deposited grass and leaves with a covering of hair and wool. As its name implies it feeds on flies, and as well as catching flies on the wing it will take insects and caterpillars from the herbage. The male bird is depicted in his surmer plumage. Where he is black the female is brown, and her breast is not pure white but is clouded with buff.

#Tunnicliffe
Another tea card illustration by C F Tunnicliffe from the Portraits of Birds album(1961)
Pied Flycatcher
I have never seen one.

A colour painting in portrait format. It shows an early winter scene of birds on a lake fringed with bulrushes and dried grass. In the distance are leafless trees with a wonderful skeleton of branches. Above are small birds, siskins, eating seeds in an alder tree.

Winter in Cheshire, by Charles Tunnicliffe
Our mild wet winter is well represented in this painting by C.F. #Tunnicliffe (1901 - 1979), a son of #Cheshire from Langley near Macclesfield. Image taken from "What to look for in Winter" by Ladybird published in 1959.
#Art #Winter #localhistory #nature

Calling poetry lovers and lovers of thinking.....Go Sprout The Grain! is out NOW in the universe.
Go grab yourself a copy 📚
Illustrations and cover design by @marksheeky.bsky.social
If you want a signed copy, DM me 💛xx
www.amazon.co.uk/Go-Sprout-Gr...
#poetry #pagan #tunnicliffe #janetframe

Lots of little jobs today. Added the vocals to a new Fall in Green track, one which we performed at Macclesfield Book Fest last month all about Macc artist Charles Tunnicliffe: 'From Eye to Hand to Paper'. Here's an owl I've drawn for this poem, for Deb's forthcoming book.
#art #Tunnicliffe #poetry

Inspired by CF #Tunnicliffe and his beautiful show at Oriel Môn, Llangefni which I visited yesterday, our young artists will be creating their own bird paintings -learning to look closer and longer to capture detail 🦆🦉🦅 @minimastersart.bsky.social #OrielMon

Sums up my morning walk in #ChorltonEes this morning. Discovered the stunning permanent collection of work by #Tunnicliffe at #OrielMôn #Llangefni yesterday along with the #LeonardMcComb show #GoSeeArt

Our first event of the year ❤️ From Eye to Hand to Paper #tunnicliffe #poetry #fallingreen #music #creatives #macclesfield #macclesfieldbookfestival

New event for February 2nd now live on www.fallingreen.co.uk. We'll be performing a few works including a new one about artist Charles Tunnicliffe as part of Macclesfield Book Festival.
www.cornutopia.co.uk/fallingreen/...
#poetry #Tunnicliffe #Macc #MaccBookFest

Mini-Series, Cheshire portrayed in Art.
These two colour #paintings were created by CF #Tunnicliffe, RSA (1901-1979) and appear in the Ladybird Book "What to look for in Winter", 1959. He was born in Langley near #Macclesfield and his landscapes were inspired by his home county of #Cheshire.
#Art

No issues with #SA #coach making changes - series gone. But resting both #Wolvaardt & #Brits *&* opening with #Tunnicliffe (who had a traumatic time of it last time out) may not have been wise/was certainly a Big Ask. She & #Bosch both failed.

54 for 5 off 10, the home side.

#women's #cricket

Disappointing from #Filer. #Tunnicliffe in a complete tizzy but the bowler bowling repeatedly down leg... then wide of 8th stump. Some good pace but this is not top international-class bowling.

#Eng #SA