Goldcrests and cliches

This weekend a trip in the other direction. A frosty morning saw me in the Forest of Dean just as the sun was starting to peer over the treetops. For an hour or so it was possible to enjoy the frost, the mist and the glorious colour of the trees.

And to take some cliche snaps. I won't apologise about the lack of originality because I still think they look pretty!

A large clump of Deschampsia highlighted by the sun reminded me why I persist in trying to grow this grass in the garden, even though it doesn't seem I've found the right spot yet.

I missed the redwings on the hawthorn, but a robin sat like an overlarge berry.

A movement in the treetops eventually turned out to be a greater spotted woodpecker, although I could only get decent views with the camera digiscoping at too high a magnification. Never seen one on pine cones before.

Long tailed tits flitted noisily through the broad-leaved trees and there were some fleeting glimpses of goldcrests in the pines, in too much shade to allow a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the flighty little buggers.

Moving on to Speech House and the arboretum I found more goldcrests, and finally managed a shot which at least has the beak almost in focus even if the rest is blurred and you can't see the crest!

I don't know if it is just me but this year there seem to be goldcrests everywhere I go - even in the car park at work - far more than I can recall last winter. Maybe a sign of a hard winter coming for Europe?