LESSER REDPOLLS.

It took me quite a while yesterday to remember what the strange yellow orb  was that was shining in the sky that morning.It was the sun ! ! ! Right I thought I'd better get out there with the camera but where to go was the question.

Didn't fancy going after the long staying Hoopoe in Kingswinford because I didn't want to be driving through the towns on route with all the Xmas shoppers about.The Great Northern Diver at Upper Bittell reservoir was a better choice but I wasn't sure it was still there so I played safe again and went to my local patch Marsh Lane.What a wimp ! !

Got there at 9.30 AM and decided to check out the Old Road first to see if I could get some shots of Redpolls.There were quite a few Lesser Redpolls feeding on the seed heads but they were pretty mobile and not easy to get close to but great fun trying to get some shots in the morning sunshine.

Spending time along the Old Road chasing Redpolls reminded me of a Redpoll that was seen in the same spot in January 2008 which attracted up to 90 observers spread out along the road.They had come to see one bird that many thought might be an Arctic Redpoll but others weren't so sure.Here is a shot of the bird in question.