Wednesday 21 January 2015

Surprise visitor

Europe's smallest bird, the goldcrest, is not particularly rare but we have never seen one here before. Imagine our surprise then, when preparing lunch, to see a small bird picking insects from the branches of a buddleia which grows outside the kitchen window. At first we thought it was a blue tit and apparently they do often join groups of tits, and with so many on our feeders it would have been no surprise. But closer observation revealed other unmistakeable traits - the size, the greeny/yellow back, the buff underside and most obviously the yellow and red markings on top of the head.

distinctive head markings
He (it was an adult male) kindly waited whilst a camera was sought. One characteristic is that they flit incessantly from branch to branch, but here are a couple of shots which just about help to see him.


See the light underside and pointed bill
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