Berry Raiders.

During a late morning stroll at Epsom Common yesterday I didn't see much avian activity apart from a single Grey Heron on the main pond, the usual noisy Jays, Magpies and Crows. Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren and a Dunnock also made brief appearances. There were lots of Blackbirds around and I could hear the distant call of a Redwing so I wandered in the hope of maybe capturing an image of one feeding BUT was actually greeted by six Grey Squirrels enjoying a feast on the Hawthorn stocks.   

For once their need to consume this ready made larder was more important and they paid little attention to my presence. I did eventually catch up with a few Redwing but not with the camera this time.

With little else to keep me occupied I headed over to Headley Common in search of the large Redpoll flock that has been present for a few days. By pure chance I headed in the right direction and intially found around 16 Lesser Redpoll feeding in the top of a birch together with one Mealy (another addition to the year list). Over the following hour I watched numerous small flocks (a total of about 80 birds) flitting high overhead but rarely perching long enough or low enough to enable a detailed view through the lens. 

These birds weren't as obliging as the Squirrels so the best I could do was to point the 70-300 lens at specks feeding around 80 feet overhead. Original image is heavily cropped.  FAB.