Goldcrest combs the gorse for slim pickings

Wolsingham, Weardale This tiny tweezer-billed bundle of feathers probed each nook and cranny in a forest of green skewers

This patch of hawthorn scrub had been laden with scarlet berries until well into December. Then redwing flocks passed through and today its twigs were bare. Apart from a few rosehips, some already shredded by greenfinches, which use their powerful beaks to extract the flinty seeds, the dangling bunches of guelder-rose fruits were the only remaining flecks of scarlet in the landscape.

It is a mystery why birds always leave until last these shiny, succulent, berries. In mild winters some remain untouched until they wither in spring. That's unlikely this year. The first real test of winter for many birds, especially those that are not seed eaters, may be about to begin.