My First Half-Decent Goldcrest Photograph

This photograph isn't that great (although some people on Facebook seem to like it), but it's historic for me!  It's the first half-decent photograph of a Goldcrest that I've ever managed to take.

You see, Goldcrests are bogey birds for me - I rarely ever see them and never normally get anywhere near as close as this when I do.  I was driving slowly with my windows down on Rindle Road near Astley Moss (in a town you'd suspect me of kerb-crawling, but not here) and it just caught my eye in the bushes.

I stopped the car immediately, reached for my camera and for once the bird did not fly away. I didn't have time to think about settings and just shot four quick photos from inside my car, before it did disappear deeper into the bushes.  It was greatly underexposed when I looked at it on the back of the camera, but that's better than the other way round - at least you have got something with which to work.

After a bit of post-processing, this was the best of the four shots and I quite like it because it pretty much captures the essence of the Goldcrest.  As a photographer, you always want a better shot, but this one will do me for a while - well at least until tomorrow.