Redpoll.

This one is for David as it's one of his favourite small birds.
It was a tricky bird to capture as the branches of the silver birch were flapping about in the breeze.
The males, as in most bird species, are much more brightly coloured than the female.This family have about three young.
The BTO bird survey has shown a '15 fold increase in the use of gardens by lesser redpolls over the last few weeks compared with the same period five years ago'.(March 2013).This is certainly the case here as we may have had a quick visit from one or two in the past but definitely an increase this year.