Brave

After lunch with R in Stratford I went for a walk along the north side of the river, which ended in Holy Trinity churchyard. There was a lot of bird activity going on, and in the half hour I had left of my parking time I was able to log fourteen species. Only the resident Goldcrests evaded me, which was disappointing because by now I've come to expect them to put in an appearance whenever I visit Holy Trinity. But they must have been further over in the churchyard, or possibly out in the Avonbank Gardens, because even my Merlin app couldn't detect any.

I baited some of the stones with bird food, as I usually do, but I ended up standing just a couple of metres away from this one in the attempt to get a better angle on some nuthatches, and only the Coal Tits were prepared to come down and feed so close to me - risk-taking behaviour that I've seen before in this species. For birds that are tiny, and therefore vulnerable to cold and starvation, Coal Tits are surprisingly successful, and experts attribute this to them being extremely adaptable: they live in a wide range of environments, and eat a broad selection of foods. From my own experience, I'd say that a quick intelligence and a bold and determined attitude are likely to be helping as well.