Cyn's Nature Notes: Goldcrest fledglings

Saturday 23 June 2012

Goldcrest fledglings

We often see Goldcrests in the garden, they have been a garden visitor for as long as we have lived here and can be spotted all year round, usually in the silver birch tree. They are pretty little birds and easily identified by the stripe running from front to back on their heads, which in a male is orange/orangy yellow and in a female is yellow, in both sexes there is a black stripe edging the main one. The wings have a dark mark on them and two small white lines.

Today while I was at the end of the garden I became aware of the tiny call of a young bird, it was very soft and I wasn't sure which bird it belonged to, following the sound with my eyes but standing absolutely still, I saw the birds in question and was so delighted on seeing them to realise they were goldcrest fledglings.

There were four of them and they were in a conifer, a leylandii. Goldcrests are restless little birds and once you have watched them moving about, it is very easy to pick them out, their movements being quite different to other birds.

I watched them for several minutes and listened to them, they were calling all of the time, and for as long as I watched them I wished I had my camera with me. Eventually the longing to photograph these tiny fledglings became too great and I slipped quietly away.

Alas on my return they were no longer there!

Goldcrests are our smallest bird. Their nest is made of lichen, moss, small twigs and cobwebs and is cup shaped. It is built in conifers in what appears to be a precarious position, very close to the end of the twiggy end parts of conifer branches, and although it looks precariously balanced it seems quite safe, having been fixed to the branch with sticky cobwebs. Even in windy weather it stays in place swaying with the branches to which it is attached.

They eat spiders, caterpillars and insects, apparently goldcrests find it difficult to retain fat and because they have so little reserves, cold winters are challenging for them and if it is very severe they succumb to the cold. They have two clutches of eggs a year and are capable of producing high numbers of young, therefore off setting the danger of their breed being totally wiped out by successive cold winters.

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About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.