3 in 1 Tree......24/01

Well, it's not moths and there's no photo. But when Mark Thomas told me about an Arctic Redpoll that he'd seen near Coronation Pit- mid Beds a week previous, I was anxious to get over there. I couldn't get out of work and visit until Sunday so had my fingers crossed. Soon after we arrived Mark located a distant flock of c30 Repoll sp. which unfortunately were very flighty. They were flying between 2 stands of birches, so after waiting for 15 minutes or so the birds finally arrived. As luck would have it we located the Coue's Arctic Redpoll almost immediately, even beside 1 of a few Mealys the frosty white plumage and stocky build really did prove 100% diagnostic. After some lengthy observations, I finally got a view of the pure white, unstreaked rump. So there it was, 3 species of Redpoll in 1 birch tree, Mark is hoping to go back for photos in better light as it might be a while till we see that again, especially in Bedfordshire.