They’re feathered friends.

And these stunning shots of an adult great tit feeding a juvenile blue tit were captured by birdwatcher Reg Senior in his own garden at Honley – after a predatory strike by four magpies deprived the great tit of its brood and orphaned the blue tit.

Reg, a member of Huddersfield Birdwatchers Club, said he feared the worst when he saw the magpies descend on his garden at the weekend.

“I thought, that’s it then – the magpies have had their breakfast. Later, I saw the great tit feeding the blue tit that was about to leave the bird box it was born and raised in.”

He said: “In the world of ornithology, it is not unknown for one special to be observed feeding another species. The same thing featured on BBC’s Springwatch programme with the very same species.”

Reg said adult blue tits would feed their young inside the bird box – but the entrance was too small for the great tit to enter. “You can see the blue tit fly in like a bullet,” he said.

“Great tits nest in boxes that have a 28mm hole and the blue tits were using a box with a 25mm hole as blue tits are the smaller species,” he said. “The great tit could not squeeze into the blue tit box and could only reach down from the entrance, but it managed that for two days. Today, the blue tit left with its new parent.”

The adult great tit feeds a juvenile blue tit in birdwatcher Reg Senior's garden at Honley

Reg has a bank of eight bird boxes in his back garden with another two at the front of the house.

While the birds have all flown, one of the nest boxes has some new tenants. It is being used as a hive by a number of tree bees.

Reg, who consulted a beekeeping expert to find out more about his new arrivals, said: “These bees were first recorded in the UK in 2001 since when they have spread widely and it has been noted that they have selected bird boxes as a favourite place to set up home.

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“So the bees that are recent migrants coming over the channel are voting to stay ‘in’ while the blue tit is for getting ‘out’! Is this nature trying to tell us something?”