Went for a walk yesterday morning with Ethan, to get myself air and to deliver him from the screen! I took my binoculars just in case as you never know! It was a fresh and bright morning, dry but icy especially in the shade.
We were staying over at the In-laws so were not in our usual haunt. The decision had been made by Yours Truly to head to the common which is five minutes walk from their house. I don’t know why looking back, but some may say it was fate, coincidence or a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit to chose a narrower winding path into a more shady area of the common.
Two minutes into the common there was a small flurry of activity in front of us which caught my eye. A couple of Long-tailed Tits were flitting in the trees not far off the ground and lower down was a smaller bird. My heart skipped a beat. I had been thinking on and off about this little bird and kept reminding myself I needed to check out its song and call. The bird was silent but very active not so active to misidentify – meaning it was easily recognisable! It moved low down in a bare tree, a birch I think and then flew across the path and kept hovering under a branch and dabbing at it with its bill. All of this took place seven or eight foot from where we were standing.
The bird in question was a Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus) and like the RSPB website says, vies for the place of smallest British bird with the Goldcrest. The website states: “This tiny, restless jewel of a bird … Compared to the goldcrest, the firecrest is brighter and ‘cleaner’ looking, with a green back, white belly, bronze ‘collar’ and a black and white eye-stripe. They have a yellow and black stripe on their heads, which has a bright orange centre in males. Like goldcrests, they move through trees and bushes in search of small insects”.
Ethan and I watched it for what seemed an eternity – in fact only two or three minutes had passed. This was the best siting of a Firecrest which I had ever seen. I think I’ve seen a couple before but not this well. Everything else pailed into insignificance for the rest of the day!
We continued on our walk. Whilst I reflected on this little bird Ethan got into the moment and made me appreciate another thing – a simple pleasure, that of the ice. He was fascinated with the long puddles made by Forestry vehicles I think, which had iced over and he was comparing thickness of ice. It was a natural thing for him to do. I was touched by his enjoyment. The bird life had dwindled back at the Firecrest and his youthful enthusiasm had not wained because of it.
Approaching some muddier puddles which were not iced we suddenly saw a Grey Wagtail making use of these muddy ruts for feeding. To my mind it was unusual to see one in a woodland setting – quite an opportunist. It was amusing to watch Ethan stalking it trying to get as close as he could without getting soaked and muddy and not scaring it off at the same time!
We headed back on our circular walk. I think we were both glowing in different ways – it had been a most enjoyable uplifting walk.
Arriving back at the house we found that some more of the family had turned up. I was telling my Brother-in-law about the Firecrest and he was keen to see it. So we headed off back to the plantation, to the same place but however much we scoured the area not walking far and having a time constraint we never saw it but we did see a number of small birds including two Goldcrest’s, Coal tits and a Goldfinch.
This is one of those frustrating things about nature. Something that cannot be controlled such as the movement and sighting of birds. Ethan and I had gone for a breath of fresh air not expecting to see anything but just enjoy being outside and we received a really nice surprise. The experience was repeated but without the same success. Now is this coincidental or just one of those things? It is not the first time that this has happened to me and no doubt it will so again. I think the lesson to learn here is to just be open and ready for nature in all its ways to speak to you, either from disciplined surveying or in moments of laid back appreciation. The Spirit speaks to us through both. Even though the second visitation had not come up with the goods it was still much appreciated.