Britain's smallest bird

I had a notable sighting on my walk in to work this morning. Whilst coming up Crystal Palace Park Road a tiny shape flew in front of me and stopped on a branch perhaps 3 feet away. I tried to get a photo but it flew off before I could focus on it. It was not a bird I had seen in the flesh before but one that I instantly recognised.

The Goldcrest is Britain's smallest bird species, the one I saw couldn't have been much bigger than 7cm. They have a very distinctive yellow cap on their heads which shows more orange when the male is displaying. Their little beaks are perfect for picking insects, their main food, out of pine needles. Found predominantly in coniferous woodland they also inhabit mature gardens and mixed woods. They are relatively common (650-700 thousand pairs) and numbers have increased. Milder winters help their population a lot.

Since seeing it I have listened to it's song in the hope that I will be able to pick it out on my walk in. It is a thin rising 'tee-lee-dee, tee-lee-dee, tee-lee-dee' which I reckon I could identify if I heard in the wild now. Its call is a very delicate 'seeeee'. A really special moment that has put me in a good mood all day.

The Goldcrest - Britain's smallest bird :-)