This tiny bird is one of my favourites at national Trust properties. It is easy to identify, as it has a gold crest just as its name suggests. The only other similar bird is a Firecrest, which is very rare and has stripes around its eyes, rather than the pale circles around the Goldcrest's eyes. When you are walking near trees you are probably never too far from a goldcrest. They often favour the yew trees. You may be alerted to them by their call, but this is quite quiet and very high-pitched, so you need good hearing.

To see them you have to pick a relatively calm day, stand still and look up into the tree for movement. They can usually be seen hopping around the branches looking for food, often hanging upside down. They move quite quickly, rarely staying in the same place for more than a few seconds. if you stay still, they will often ignore you and carry on looking for food until they decide to move to an adjacent tree. This one was in a tree right next to where my car was parked, so I didn't have to look very far!