I’ve spotted a Goldcrest
This is the weekend of the UK Big Garden Birdwatch organised by the RSPB. I didn’t sign up. I haven’t got the time to do it properly this year, what with visiting Mum in hospital and having Rod laid up with a dose of the flu, but I couldn’t resist making a small contribution.
I decided to take 15 minutes our of this morning's busy schedule. I went out into the garden and I waited. Sure enough there were the regulars; Blackbirds, Sparrows, Dunnocks, a couple of Blue Tits, a Coal Tit and three stroppy Pigeons... but I could hear something different. It was the thin reedy sound of a Goldcrest. It’s visited our garden before but it’s not easy to spot. It’s even smaller than a Wren. It pecks around the inner branches of our Yew Tree and is much easier to hear than to see. I tried to photograph its gold stripe on its head but it’s a shy little thing and it wouldn’t look at me. This is the best I could manage.
Next year hopefully I’ll be able to spare more time and take part in the survey properly but for now I’m happy to know that the Goldcrest has survived this harsh winter. Good on you, Goldie.
