Down on my local reserve I noticed a few small finches in a tree just as I was rushing back to the car from a long cold session. I thought they were the Lesser Redpoll that we see regularly during the Winter but even though I had some good images of this species I still knocked off a few and hurried on. It wasn't 'til later that I looked at the image in detail and some features of the birds didn't ring true. The birds were also singing a "tune" I didn't recognise and weren't fussed about my presence, unusual for Lesser Redpoll. Then a "Eureka" moment, they were Twite - a bird that comes down the East coast in small numbers in Winter but has hardly ever been seen inland, so this was a rare occurrence. I notified a couple of other Birders and since then the reserve has been crowded out by folks wanting a sight of this inland rarity. They are still around after two weeks and I guess they may have been here all Winter but as no-one expected them and as the area normally has large numbers of other small finches, no-one has been looking specifically for them.
I've always been an advocate of the saying "Common things happen commonly" but in this case it should have been "Always expect the unexpected"
Canon 7D plus EF 400mm f5.6L
David
I've always been an advocate of the saying "Common things happen commonly" but in this case it should have been "Always expect the unexpected"
Canon 7D plus EF 400mm f5.6L
David
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