Goldcrest antics

 with a light south-easterly wind on Sunday 8th the expected arrival of wintering thrushes and other Scandinavian migrants duly materialised along the east coast; along with the 2500 or so Redwings, 150 Song Thrushes, Fieldfares and six or so Ring Ouzels there was a notable afternoon arrival of Goldcrests; at only 5gms in weight, the same as a 20p piece, Goldcrests make the over water crossing of the North Sea at least 430 miles regularly in autumn with large falls occurring in bad weather with an easterly component having set off in fine weather and meeting rain and wind en route; at these times thousands must perish in the North Sea but some arrivals can be spectacular; 

On October 18th 1990 along the same stretch of Lincolnshire coast, only 2kms long in heavy afternoon rain and a force 5 easterly wind I estimated ttoals of 12000 Redwings, 4000 Goldcrests, 1000 Fieldfares, 600 Robins, Olive-backed Pipit, 5 Parrot Crossbills and an Arctic Redpoll being the rarities but the encounter below had stuck in my memory for 33 years: 

I took shelter in an old 2nd world war bunker on the edge of the dunes at Pyes Hall to avoid the worst of the rain and was joined by Goldcrests as I described at the time:

The images below were all taken on Sunday 8th as the birds fed on small insects and invertebrates found under the leaves of a lone sycamore - clearly in much better condition than the birds in 1990 these individuals had had an easier crossing in better weather -