Sometimes prevarication pays off. Intending to go out somewhere today, to look for new species, I decided to have one last coffee, and took my camera into the kitchen to photograph a male sparrow that has been advertising his nest site loudly on next door's roof. But I saw a movement in the brambles that grow between our gardens. I first thought it was a butterfly, then a bluetit, but it was far more exciting.
12/101.
Regulus regulus Goldcrest
Location: My back garden, Blackpool.
Conditions: Mild, light cloud, some sunshine. Light wind.
Photograph quality: 3.
Comments: Only the third goldcrest I've ever seen, and the second in my garden (the first was half a lifetime ago, however). These birds are common, but hard to photograph, as they stay in thick shrubbery and undergrowth, and rarely stay still. They are the smallest British bird, dwarfed even by bluetits, so the camera wasn't totally happy trying to autofocus. However, the shots are good enough to identify the species, and I think the sex - no orange on the head stripe suggests an adult female. I spent a couple of minutes enraptured, watching it work through the garden, then it flew away.
A really special experience.
Photographs taken with a 200mm lens + 2x extender (400mm), through the kitchen window.
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