Goldfinch

Better in large ("L").

I visited Mount Pond this morning with an Egyptian goose blip in mind ("for a change"); when I arrived they were nowhere to be seen! Grrr.
The male pochard had also disappeared; presumably it is now off resting somewhere else (taunting some other photographer)...

The light was nice so I took pictures of the tufted ducks and coots, but then (out of the corner of my eye) I saw a tiny flutter of wings and a splash of colour, and here it is: this little goldfinch was being very chirpy and confident. I crept up to it but it just flew over the fence into the out-of-bounds area of the pond. It later reappeared and I was quite pleased with a few of my shots (taken with my lens poking through the gaps in a fence); I was about to head home, when it landed on the ground much closer to me and started digging for insects. I crouched down and hid behind my camera: it just went about its business as if I wasn't there! There were no other goldfinches in sight (or earshot); perhaps this confident little bird prefers the company of humans...

What luck, a blip in the bag before 10AM: thank you little goldfinch!