This tiny bird is one of my favourites at national Trust properties. 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. These two were in the trees along the steep climb from the river walk up to the stables courtyard