Goldcrest

..the smallest bird in Europe, apparently.

Another glorious but very cold morning, so once again I walked to the reserve early and spent a long time just watching.  The goldcrests and tits were feeding in a small and rather awkwardly placed hawthorn tree.  It was a sheer delight to get some images reasonably clear of intervening branches and mostly in focus!  These birds move so fast and never stop for a moment.  I found myself wondering how many calories they must burn up per minute as they're feeding like this.

And I'm sorry you can't see the gold stripe up between the eyes on this one, but I'll try for that next time.

Hope your Monday's gone well  xx