Aldeburgh, Suffolk, 14 December 2012

I've been itching to get down to Aldeburgh all week but have been tied up with work until today. Cue a change in the weather (for the worse!) but luckily the 'snowball' hung on for me and I managed to get a dry couple of hours this morning before the heavy rain set in.
The Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll was soon found on the beach just south of the town and proved to be SO tame! It fed on sea poppy seeds in one small patch of weeds allowing approach down to an amazing 6 feet. The only problem was trying to keep the camera still in the blustery conditions but laying down on the shingle did the trick.
I'm not sure I'll bother with any 'exilipes' birds in the future because this race really is big and stunning!
The only other species of note was a Rock Pipit on the beach briefly before the weather had me racing back to my flask in the car!