Monday 10 December 2012

The hornemanni twitch… a few more pics

A few more photos from yesterday’s trip to Aldeburgh. The redpoll was a cracking bird, but it was also great to see a number of friends enjoying really good-natured, fuss-free twitch.

Well, almost fuss-free: after washing the car on Saturday, and leaving London with it spotless (at least on the outside) it would appear I need to do it again! Parking next to a muddy puddle on the carpark approach led to this artistic polka-dot paintjob, presumably thanks to a nervous twitcher arriving at speed:

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The crowd wasn’t ever that big,though, no more than 100 at one time enjoying the bird at close quarters…

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… some of whom utilised stealthy fieldcraft (and especially camouflaged headwear) to gain closer views with state-of-the art equipment, whilst scattering surplus optics on the surrounding shingle…

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… and others employed somewhat simpler technology.

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Crofty, already a veteran of multiple Shetland Hornemann’s, appeared casual and relaxed throughout. Here he is, striking a sultry pose for the Wanstead winter collection…

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… and here, hoping for the ultimate shot of flyover hornemanni undertail coverts.

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Cheers to all the guys shown here, and everyone else we spoke to, for making a memorable day out!

And finally, lest anyone forgets what the point of the whole crazy exercise was… here’s a video of ‘the boy’:

2 comments:

Jonathan Lethbridge said...

Just blending in...bet it thought I was a Lesser Redpoll, you know, dark, small....

BagginsTim said...

Excellent tick, i think there was one up here in Yorkshire too recently .... love the pics and the decription of the twitch!

Tim@Timbobaggins Abroad