During lockdown they were a source of joy and solace. Daily they feed our souls in gardens and parks across the region.
There is the bright jewel which can enhance any day - the goldfinch, making constant tinkling twitterings as they flit about. Their colourful heads have successive stripes of black, white, and red. On each wing is a gold bar.
Another species which never fails to trigger a smile is the long-tailed tit, which resembles a flying desert spoon. With its thick black eyebrow, and white striped head, it is rarely solitary, and nearly always together in a group of six or seven, dancing through branches muttering, and showing flashes of a beautiful pinkish rust belly.
