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Sunday 28 March 2010

Double Bar

A Twitch this morning to The Lodge at Sandy, with a lifer on offer.
On arriving on site I was met with the classic line 'Yes it was here 5 minutes ago showing very well'
I took up my place in the already almost full hide and waited. A Blue Tit then a Great Tit came down to the feeders outside. Half an hour passed. A Blackbird and a coupleof Chaffinches visited the drinking pools. A Great spotted Woodpecker flashed past. A pair of Crossbills landed close by, but this was not our target. Three quarters of an hour and  a Nuthatch stole a nut from a feeder.
 Then after about an hour the call went up 'They're there' and yes in a tree maybe 50 yards away were a flock of around 20 smallish birds. Crossbills everyone of them, but on closer inspection one bird a female was slightly smaller and stood out from the rest in that there were 2 white flashes on it's wings - a TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL !!. We all enjoyed views of this mega-rareity - apparently the first record for Bedfordshire since the 1890 s.
 The flock flew around for a bit and came and settled in another tree. They never did come down for a drink, maybe they could sense all the people in the hide.
 Not the longest wait for a bird I've had by a long shot, but as always quite tense until it actually shows, but more than worth it in the end.

1 comment:

  1. Well done Rob. I'll have to get down there again in the week I think.

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