Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

Expert tips and advice

Marsh tit or willow tit?

WILDBIRDS

Canyoutellmewhetherthe
titinmyphotographis a
willowtitora marshtit(below)?
I photographedit ata feederin
NorthYorkshireearlierthisyear
andI can’t tell the difference.

Separatinga willowtitfromthe
verysimilarmarshis seldomeasy.
Thewillowtitwasthelastresident
breedingbirdtobediscoveredin
Britain.Until 1900 allso-calledbrown
titswerethoughttobemarshtits,but
skinstakenat Hampsteadin 1897 —
andnowintheBritishMuseum— were
discovered to be those of willow tits.

Today,thewillowtitis oneofthefastest

decliningnativebirdsandhasvirtually

disappearedfromsouth-east England

inthepast 30 years.

Thebirdinyourphotograph

appearstobea willowtit.Theclues

toitsidentificationincludethebig

headandbullneck,thematt-black

capanda paleflashinthewing.It is

usuallyeasiertotellthesetwospecies

apartbytheircall.Thewillowtit’s

ratherharsh,almostjay-likenote,

is quiteunlikethemarsh tit’s

explosive‘pichay’.

Curiously,neitherspeciesoccurs

inScotland,thoughontheContinent,

willowtitsareresidentas far north

as Arctic Lapland.DT

Latinname:Rhinanthusminor

Commonname:Yellowrattle

Othernames:Cornrattle,hay

rattle,pennygrass,rattlegrass,

cock’scomb,shacklecaps, gowk’s

shilling, hen pennies

Howtospotit andwheretofind

it:Atthispointintheyear,youmay

hearyellowrattleratherthanseeits

prettyflowers.Asthebloomsdie

back,theplantproducesinflated

seedpods,insidewhichthetiny

seedsrattle.Thetube-likeflowers

appearMaytoSeptemberandthe

serratedleavessproutonopposite

sidesofthestem,whichhasdark

spots.It is foundinnutrient-poor

pastures,haymeadows,flushes

inlowlandanduplandgrasslands,

onroadsidesandwasteground.

Interestingfacts:Yellowrattleis

hemi-parasitic;asitsrootsdevelop

theyseekouttherootsofgrasses

growingnearby.Theyellowrattle

drawswaterandnutrientsfromthe

othergrasses,suppressingtheir

growthbyasmuchas 60 percent.

Thisallowsotherflowers—such

asox-eyedaisy,knapweeds,

vetchesandevenorchids—togrow,

andhaveearnedyellowrattlethe

nickname‘nature’slawnmower’.

HerbalistNicholasCulpeper

describedit as“heldtobegoodfor

thosethataretroubledwitha cough,

ordimnessofsight”,buttodayit

hasnomedicinaluse.Yellowrattle

is thefoodplantforseveralmoths,

includingthescarcebordered

straw,dingypearl,lead-coloured

pug and the rare grass rivulet.

Native

Britain

Plants,flowersandfungi

of Great Britain at a glance

LAW

Iwonderif youcouldshed
somelightona subjectfor
me.I haveseena fewphotographs
onlineofdummylaunchersthat
havehadhome-madestocksadded
toreducerecoil.I knowyoucan
buylegalfactory-madestocks
butarehome-madestockslegal
too?If I madeone,would I be
breakingany laws?

Therearenolawsbrokenin
mountingdummylauncherson
frames,stocksorothermounts.It is the
dummylauncheritselfthatmustn’tbe
altered; it doesn’t matter what it is

attachedto.Thetestis whetherthe

launchingpartis a firearminlaw,

asdefinedbySection57 (10) of the

1968 FirearmsAct.

Forthattobeso,it musthaveall

thefollowingthree‘ingredients’:

It mustbea weapon;

It musthavea barrel;

It mustbecapableofprojectinga

missilewithlethalforce, for example,

morethanonejoule.

Commercialdummylaunchers

failonallthreecounts.It followsthat

if thelauncherpartis nota firearm,

thenit doesn’tmatterwhetherit has

anextendedwoodenhandleornot.

Merelybecausesomethinglookslike

a gun does not make it one.BH

Home-made stocks

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 49

Thewillowtitis similar

tothemarshtitbutits

distinctiveharshcall

helps to tell them apart