Exciting times here at The Lodge - a two-barred crossbill was found on Saturday afternoon. The fantastic photo above was taken by Mike Lawrence.
We've got quite a lot of [common] crossbills here at the moment, probably moving through on migration back north. But on Saturday someone snapped photos of a female bird which had big white wingbars. Steve Blain, the Bedfordshire county bird recorder, confirmed the bird's identity from the photos. It's the first one in the county since 1890... amazing!
You can see Steve's video on the Beds Bird Club blog.
Two-barred crossbills breed mostly in Russia but sometimes 'irrupt' south-westwards in search of food. Amazingly, this one has ended up in landlocked Bedfordshire.
The two-barred crossbill has been coming to drink at the pond in front of the hide, along with about 40 [common] crossbills. The flock keeps moving around to feed in various places, so if you don't fancy a long wait, it's best to go looking for them. They've been seen most often in the block of Douglas firs (shown by the green arrow on this map) along the new trail around the heath, but also range as far as the Iron Age hillfort.
Don't just look in pine trees, though - the crossbills have also been busy munching on oak leaf buds.
You can ask for the latest news when you arrive at the gatehouse. Hope you see it!