Nature Diary: February 2011

1st February 2011:
Birds:
A walk to the stream in Norman Park, Bromley Common was against my inclinations, but the damp cold morning rewarded me with a lovely sight of a pair of goldcrests flitting in the thicket beyond the stream and weeping willow tree that the treecreepers nested in last year. There was a noticeable difference in the two birds appearance - the male bird appeared half again more contrasted in its markings. The two birds were in no rush to move on and went from branch to low branch, picking all the way at real or imaginary insects with their fine bills. After a minute or so another bird came to my notice. It was unmistakably a nuthatch and it had what appeared to be a peanut in its bill. This observation was confirmed when I later saw the nuthatch around the feeder that I set up further into the woods. There were a good selection of birds on the feeder including a coal tit and a greater spotted (pied) woodpecker.